The Love Bug of Los Angeles
by Conan Fleming
Summary: When a rival racer destroys his car, an amateur racer and his three friends set out on an adventure to race freely again. With the help of an old race car and a mysterious motorcyclist, they set out to discover the true meaning of racing and bring a legend home. Co-written and proofread by my friend HarrimanStandard.
1. Prologue - Snooze or Lose

Gloved hands gripped the leather-bound carbon fiber steering wheel, as steely eyes stared straight ahead at the rain-soaked dirt road. Anticipation built inside his system as the rain came down hard, obscuring his view heavily if not for the car's windshield wipers. Outside his field of view, a muffled voice echoed above the wail of an excited crowd that lined both sides of the rally stage. Umbrellas and signs waved high in the air, their owners unaffected by the torrent unleashed upon them. The sleek, little rally four-door, a blue Subaru Impreza, stood at the start line as it revved its four-cylinder engine loudly over the din of the cheers and the rain. The car's bright rally lights illuminated the route ahead, only hampered by the immense downpour and light fog. The driver gave a cocky grin to the race announcer as the man with the microphone nodded, turning to the gleeful spectators.

"And now…" crackled the race announcers voice over the wind and rain, "In his championship-winning Subaru, World Rally Championship Rookie of the Year, Roddy Gomez!"

Roddy gave another rev of the car's engine, lifting his helmet to push his glasses higher against his face. His grip on the steering wheel tightened, left foot pushing the clutch in as far as it went as his right foot hovered over the gas pedal. He could feel the rain soaking the ground below his wheels, making the tires sink deeper as the car sagged into the mud. The race official then stepped into view, flag in hand as the clouds above got darker and darker still.

"About time…" Roddy grinned, shifting the Impreza into first gear as his eyes watched the man's arm go into the air.

All of time seemed to slow down for Roddy, the rain and crowds melting away as the flag swung down at a snail's pace. With the motion of the wave completed, the race official leapt away and cleared the track. In a millisecond, all of time suddenly caught up with Roddy as his eyes opened. His foot relieved the clutch and stomped on the gas, as all four wheels found purchase in the mud. The little four-cylinder turbo roared to life as mud sprayed everywhere and Roddy found himself launched downhill into the rally stage. His right hand was a blur on the shifter as the Subaru sped up the first hill, nearly jumping at the crest as his left hand kept a grip on the rapidly-jiggling steering wheel. The rally car seemed to glide like a cloud over the rough terrain, absorbing every bump and dip in the road as Roddy whipped it around a corner like a bobsled. While he was roaring down the stage, a helicopter was flying overhead, braving the stormy weather to document his run.

"...And we are now following Roddy Gomez as he attempts to set a new record here in…" The suit-and-tie sports reporter paused, checking his clipboard as the helicopter dived and chased after the wildly-fishtailing Subaru, then stammered, "P-powis… Powys, Wales! There ya go, I got it!" After looking to his crew for approval, the sports reporter looked down below as Roddy cautiously navigated his way through a farm gate, the Subaru going like a stabbed rat as it bounced down on the muddy road again.

"We're being told that Gomez is doing this without a navigator," The reporter continued, "We have been told by the FIA that doing so is completely dangerous since most of the drivers under their roster don't know the route too well by memory. Well, Roddy Gomez is now attempting a record time independent of the FIA, merely, it seems, for bragging rights."

Roddy chewed on the side of his cheek as he put the brakes hard on, whipping the Subaru into a tight left-hand curve that went downhill. The little sedan hugged the blind curve's inside like a go-kart, roaring out of the curve and down a long, flat straight that jumped Roddy's speed to double what it once was. The driver grinned, fistpumping the air with his right fist as he shifted into overdrive, the flat-four engine's turbo whining in protest as the rally car bounced along happily. Roddy grinned, he could just see the finish line ahead of him as he rushed through and set a new world record. He could just see it now: all the glitz, all the fame, all the fans, all the… lights?

Roddy's eyes bugged out suddenly, as he saw lights coming up the same road as him. The driver panicked, shifting the car out of gear and stomping on the brakes; but when Roddy stepped on the pedal, the car didn't stop. In fact, the car seemed to just keep barreling along, heading right for a head-on collision. Roddy panicked, trying to swerve off the road and into a ditch somewhere, anywhere more preferable than hitting a car directly. The wheel, however, wouldn't budge and just kept straight. As Roddy turned to his side, now panicking since his controls wouldn't work, he suddenly saw a dark figure racing beside him at the same speed. All that could be seen of the figure and his vehicle was a vague, cloudy shape and an insane white-toothed grin across the driver's face. The mouth opened and let out a howling laugh as the lights in front of Roddy go closer. He braced, every single ounce of pride in his body now replaced with panic, and screamed as the light engulfed him…


	2. Race Day

Rodrigo "Roddy" Gomez suddenly sat up in bed, slamming his head into the bunk-bed above him as he let out a loud yelp of pain. The young adult clutched his head tightly as he found himself not in the wreckage of a crashed Subaru, but instead in his bedroom in his parents' apartment above their Filipino restaurant. Bright sunlight shone through his street-view window's dark blue curtains, providing some minor illuminations to the racing posters across his wall. To his side, a laptop had remained on, still showing the online chat window from last night. Roddy groaned as he felt the pain emanating from his head, looking at his reflection in his bedroom mirror. A lean, round-faced Filipino of 23 with an unruly mop of black hair stared back at him. He didn't have time to dwell on his appearance however as his mother suddenly ran into his room, opening the door quickly and accidentally banging it against his chest of drawers.

"Oh my god, Rodrigo!" Maya Gomez yelped, kneeling down in bed and inspecting her son's head, "Are you ok!?"

"Mom, I'm fine!" Roddy grunted back, jerking his head away and keeping it clutched.

"No you're not!" Maya said, with worry in her voice, "Please let me see?"

"Oh, fine…!" Roddy groaned and leaned towards his mother. Maya lifted his hands delicately off his head and looked, thankfully finding no injury. With a sigh, she hugged his head close to hers.

"You're ok, baby." She said, relieved, "I was so worried when you screamed, what happened?"

"Just a bad dream," Roddy responded, hugging his mom and giving her a kiss, "but I'm fine now."

"Ok." Maya smiled, giving her son a kiss back, "You have your big track day with your friends today, but before that, you have to go make a delivery for me."

"Why?" Roddy asked, swinging his legs over the side of the bed, "What time is it?" Maya gestured to the racing clock Roddy kept on his bedroom wall. It read 9:30AM. Then, it hit Roddy like his nightmare: he had a track day at 10:30. "Holy crap!" he shouted as he leapt out of bed, "I'm going to be late!"

"Don't forget to deliver the food!" Maya yelled after him as Roddy collected his clothes and headed for the shower, "Keep the money in the glovebox!"

"Ok, I won't!" Roddy yelled jokingly down the hall before shutting the bathroom door. Maya blinked and hoped to God that her son meant he would. She quickly made the sign of the cross and left the room.

Nearly ten minutes later, Roddy was dressed in a Volkswagen t-shirt and skinny jeans and running outside his family's combined apartment and Filipino restaurant. In one hand, he had his blue racing helmet; in the other, he held the bag of food that was now being thrashed about as Roddy bounded out the door and towards his waiting white Honda Del Sol coupe. His dad, Rodolfo, was just driving up in his old 1980's Mercedes Benz sedan, when he saw Roddy almost run in front of his car.

"Hey, Rodrigo!" Rodolfo barked in Tagalog, "Don't go running in front of my car!"

"Sorry dad!" Roddy responded as he stuffed his things into his car, "I love you!"

"Be safe now!" Rodolfo responded as he watched Roddy drive quickly away in his little coupe. The father then sighed happily and parking the boxy four-door in front of the restaurant.

Roddy meanwhile flew through Pasadena's surprisingly-uncrowded streets in an attempt to get his delivery done on time. What was I doing last night, he thought to himself as he entered the freeway. Friday yesterday, all he could remember was having some drinks and good talk at his friend Lewis' dad's garage; but other than that, he could recall nothing.

"No matter, I'm alright with time." Roddy said to himself, tapping his steering wheel as he turned on his radio. The sounds of classic rock soon played on his speakers as the young Asian drove on towards his destination: Jackrabbit Springs Raceway.

It was 11:30 by the time Roddy arrived at the gates of Jackrabbit Springs Raceway. Flags and banners were hung all over the raceway's fences, advertising the racetrack's annual classic sports car meet. The landscape around the track was mostly dry desert brush, bleached a sandy white by the dry heat of the California sun. Wherever Roddy could look, drivers and mechanics were busy unloading beautiful classic cars from the confines of their trailers, as the sounds of powerful, old engines filled the air with a beautiful symphony of sports cars. The white Honda pulled humbly up to the gate, where Roddy eagerly showed off his paddock pass.

"Party name?" The rotund man manning the paddock gates asked, before looking disdainfully at Roddy's little Honda through his polarized aviators.

"Radinsky!" Roddy called out over the racket coming from the track. The man then consulted his list and nodded, his expression never changing from one of seemingly-constant contempt.

"Third down from the end." He finally said, pointing with his pen before turning around to let Roddy through, adding, dully "Have a good day, sir."

"Thank you!" Roddy called out as he brought the Del Sol through, giving a gentle rev of its engine.

The little coupe soon passed through the gates and slowly cruised through the rear paddock area, where all sorts of different auto trailers were lined up, their gaping openings facing the open doors of the garages in front of them. As Roddy passed the other drivers, he could see familiar names among them: McLaren, Lotus, Ferrari, Bentley, all exemplified by the beautifully restored and running cars surrounding him. By comparison, his own Del Sol was a small but humble affair, appearing to be a small, sleek convertible. However, instead of a folding roof, the Del Sol possessed a rear window with a removable metal and plastic top supported by a large rear bar that doubled as a rollbar. The car painted a self-described "Liquid Paper" white, with a matte black hood and many dents, dust marks and scratches from the little car's previous owners. The only good thing Roddy could say about his car, which he called "Citron" as the car was about as sweet as a lemon, was that it ran perfectly and had decent handling. The same couldn't be said for his friend Lewis Radinsky, however, as Roddy pulled up to the Radinsky garage.

"Lewis!" He called out as he pulled up behind a black 1963 Chevrolet Impala wagon parked next to a red flatbed Freightliner truck and a white Land Rover Defender 110. The square-shaped Impala was painted nicely in black matte paint, with orange and silver stripes down the side, accentuating its straight-edged lines and making the chrome bumpers, grille,lights and mirrors shine much brighter and more prominently, resembling an old railroad paint scheme that its owner was fond of. The even squarer Land Rover was a large, offroading sport utility vehicle with large windows down the side and big, knobbly tires around steel wheels. It was an import model from Britain, and was currently covered in mud along its lower third from its owner's last excursion through the Santa Monica mountains. The Freightliner was a decently-large flatbed heavy-duty truck, painted red with "Mission St. Independent Auto" stenciled along the side in gold lettering, looking quite large as it had the job of ferrying about the Radinsky's racing car.

"Roddy?!" Called a voice from inside the garage, as a tall, lanky, and angular-chinned white male, a little older than Roddy and dressed in an oil-stained coverall, stepped out of the garage. Lewis Radinsky grinned as he ran across the paddock's road and up to the Del Sol as Roddy stepped out, giving him an intense hug. As Roddy screamed to be let down, Lewis ignored his protests and lifted the shorter male off his feet, hugging him side to side.

"I didn't think you'd make it!" Lewis said as he dropped Roddy, "We thought you'd be shut out!"

"Nobody shuts out Roddy Gomez!" Roddy grinned as Lewis chuckled back, getting a good look at him.

"I should think not!" Lewis replied, before he took out a cloth from his pocket and wiped under his dirty-blond hair, "How's Citron?"

"Eh." Was Roddy's only response, "He drives, that's it." As he turned to the Impala wagon, Roddy let out a whistle and said, "How's Pegasus?"

"She's alright, actually!" Lewis grinned, walking over to the big Impala station wagon and activating the hood release. As he opened the enormous square hood, Lewis said, "Check this out!" Roddy immediately strode over, looking down into the engine bay before he let out a big gasp.

"No way!" He shouted, looking to Lewis for affirmation, "You didn't!"

"Yup!" Lewis grinned madly, displaying his usual face around Roddy, "LS-swapped and everything!"

"Where you even get this engine?" Roddy gaped, admiring the almost-mint V8 engine sitting in the Impala's chassis.

"Old Caprice police car!" Lewis smirked proudly, admiring his knuckles to feign smugness, "The old Impala engine's in that, but now this thing can out-drag anything you can throw at it!"

"Wicked…" Roddy grinned, as a voice suddenly called out from behind the both of them.

"Roddy, you made it!" Said an older male's voice from the garage. Roddy and Lewis turned to find Lewis' father, Wilson Radinsky, stepping out of the garage. Unlike Lewis, Wilson didn't keep his figure slender past his days as a sports car racer; nowadays, he sported a significant gut but still managed to keep in decent shape. As well as a gut, Wilson also sported long black hair, in comparison to Lewis' short blonde hair. The manic grin, however, remained in the family. The older man stepped up to Roddy and grinned, patting him on the shoulder.

"How'd you find your drive today?" He asked, "We thought you wouldn't make it!"

"I had to do a minor delivery." Roddy admitted, smiling apologetically, "And I woke up late as well after talking to your son late last night. He then gestured to Lewis; Wilson chuckled.

"What about?" He asked, "How his old man was once three-time champion of the SCCA?"

"Oh god, dad!" Lewis groaned, facepalming, "Can we stop talking about your glory days?"

"Oh fine." Wilson smirked, sticking his tongue out, "Was only teasing! Anyway…" He then turned back to Roddy, "I got something in the garage, want to see it?"

"Sure!" Roddy exclaimed, clearly excited as he ran back to his Del Sol and grabbed his racing helmet, "I'm up for racing!"

"Good lad!" Wilson laughed heartily as he walked back into the garage, "Come inside!"


	3. Automotive Avarice

As Roddy and Lewis stepped into the garage, Roddy was suddenly dumbstruck by what he saw. There, amongst a pile of tools and oil stains in the middle of the garage, was a mint-looking 1965 Lotus Elan 26R hardtop. The little classic coupe was painted in Wilson's own "Radinsky Red" scheme, with a black hardtop and white front, that thinned into a white stripe that ran the top length of the car with black roundels on the hood, doors and rear trunklid. The front and rear of the little car was also accented in silver bumper designs, giving it a classy look. Roddy couldn't believe his eyes, walking around the car while Wilson and Lewis smirked, folding their arms proudly.

"Well," Wilson started.

"What do you think?" Lewis finished, following Roddy.

"I'm struck dumb, that's for sure!" Roddy gaped, walking around the rear of the car to find a pair of legs and feet sticking out the bottom of the car. "Oh god!" He exclaimed, jumping back as the figure underneath shifted uncomfortably.

"Can you move please?!" The figure called out, "I need to get the heck out from under here!"

Roddy quickly moved back as the figure slid out from under the Lotus, revealing itself to be the afro-topped face of his friend and National Park Ranger cadet Jackson Evergreen. The thin, white male got up from the ground and fixed up his hair-do, groaning as he wiped his oily hands on his filthy coveralls and his face on a random rag lying around.

"Hey Roddy!" Jackson said, offering his oil-soaked hand to shake, "Didn't hear you come in!"

"Um, hey Jackson…" Roddy said as he reeled back slightly, "Maybe no hand-shaking right now."

"Oh right," Jackson realized, going to wash his head as he spoke to Wilson, "The oil pan should hold for a good couple runs, but I need to be sure I did good on it."

"Of course, Jackson." Wilson grinned as he patted Jackson on the shoulder, "You did a great job anyway!"

"I'll say!" Roddy grinned, looking into the Lotus' engine bay, "How's Forrest, Jackson?"

"Let me just say, what _isn't_ falling off her?" Jackson chuckled before cringing, "Eugh, I don't like talking about that."

"Of course!" Roddy smirked as he backed away to get a good look at the car, "Damn, I can't wait to get this car out on the track!"

"You won't have to wait long too!" Lewis said, clapping his hands together, "We're on in the coupe series, so we should be heading out now!"

"Perfect!" Wilson shouted, high-fiving Lewis, "Let's get her out there!"

The group soon got the Lotus Elan out on the pit, making some final adjustments to it as Lewis got strapped in. Clicking the four-point safety harness, Lewis fired up the Lotus' little engine and gave the thumbs up. The small engine purred like a kitten, and Jackson grinned at his handiwork.

"You did good givin' the Radinsky Special some life, Jackson!" Wilson grinned as he patted the little coupe's hood, "Now go take her out there and show them, Lewis!"

"You got it, dad!" Lewis yelled as he drove out towards the end of the pit.

Wilson, Jackson and Roddy watched Lewis depart eagerly, before a loud noise suddenly filled the air behind them and drowned out the other engines. It sounded like a loud, annoying buzzing, like an enormous and annoying wasp outside one's window. All three turned around to find a loud, flashy Honda S2000 convertible rolling out of one garage, surrounded by many grinning and excited faces, all of whom could not have been above age 30. The one responsible, an almost weasel-like blond man with a Dodgers cap, revved the S2000's engine loudly again, causing all but the young adults around him to shield their ears and turn away. The modern Honda convertible dwarfed the size of the little classic Lotus easily, but was quite low and quite wide. In fact, Roddy swore it was almost scraping the ground as it rolled on what seemed be one inch-thick tires and highly-chromed "MAG" wheels. The car was colored a bright neon red, with intricate darker-red and maroon designs down its side, suggesting a draconic influence. With another rev, the driver brought it out onto the pit lane and rolled past towards the end, forcing Roddy to cover his ears. As the S2000 driver passed, he let out a hearty "WOOO, V-TEC!" before suddenly accelerating, almost running into the back of a large, curvaceous Bentley Continental GT coupe, to the cheers of his comrades.

Wilson groaned, tapping Roddy to uncover his ears as the trio headed to the other side of the pitlane and the wall separating the track from the pit. There, they saw Lewis speeding past in the Radinsky Elan, battling out with a plucky, darkgreen Mazda Miata convertible and a silver, streamlined Porsche Cayman coupe.

"WOO!" Shouted Roddy over the roaring engines, "Go Lewis!"

"Pssh, that old thing?" Came a voice from behind them. As Roddy and Jackson turned around, they found one of the S2000 driver's friends walking towards them. He had vaguely Eastern European features, with a squared, cleft jawline, piercing blue eyes, and a slicked-back faux-hawk. His clothes, a plaid shirt under a black Armani blazer and designer skinny jeans, suggested he projected the air of being rich and flaunting it, much like the others around him. He looked to be in his late twenties, maybe 28 to Roddy; but the girl around his arm looked a lot younger, perhaps 22 or so. She had slightly straightened brown hair and wore a red Baker Boy cap on her head, and was dressed more casually than the male, with a green sports jacket, red v-neck top and white skirt with black bike shorts underneath. Her companion looked at the trio from behind his polarized Aviator glasses, a smirk on his face as he continued, "You think that clapped out old antique can beat my boy Red?"

"We don't even know you, dude." Roddy spat back, stepping forward as Wilson held Jackson back from jumping on the man, "So what do you know?"

"What I do know," The man replied smugly, suddenly pulling out a business card from his pocket and offering it to Roddy, "Is that my dad owns some of the best luxury auto dealerships in Southern California."

"No thanks." Wilson said as he refused the car for Roddy, "But what's your name son."

"Hmph." The man frowned as he pocketed the card, his girl looking slightly nervous and directing her own attention to the track, "Name's Sterling Brandt, my dad's Morrison Brandt of Brandt Luxury Auto. I run his Beverly Hills Showroom."

"Oh yeah, I know that place." Jackson spoke up, calming down, "My mom tried to buy an SUV there. Your guys are so snobby she said was refused a sale on a G-wagen."

"Oh please!" Sterling chuckled, then nudged the girl by tugging on her arm, who laughed as well, "My showroom never refuses anyone unless they can pay for our cars! Your mom was probably some nobody anyway!"

"Dude, his mom's Sabrina Evergreen, the famous TV star from the 80s!" Roddy suddenly piped up, defending Jackson.

"Dude!" Jackson replied, smacking Roddy upside the head; Roddy promptly apologized quietly for mentioning Jackson's "Hollywood mom".

"Never heard of her." Sterling said, grinning as Jackson tried to angrily leap on him again before turning to the woman at his side, saying, "Oh, where _are_ my manners! I almost forgot to introduce you to my girlfriend!" He then turned to the girl at his arm and pulled her roughly, causing her to get rattled out of her reverie.

"Sterling, watch it!" She growled, but the look of intimidation on Sterling's face made her back down and look away, keeping her arms around his arm.

"Go ahead and introduce yourself to our friends, Haruka~" Sterling cooed, rubbing her chin delicately, which caused her to frown and push his arm away slightly.

"I-I'm Haruka Tochi," Haruka said quietly as she got the courage to speak, looking to Jackson, Roddy and Wilson, "I'm more of a biker, really."

"Yeah, yeah," Sterling said dismissively, gesturing away from him, "But she enjoys riding in my car a lot more, don't ya Haruka?" Haruka could only nod quietly before she excused herself and slipped away quietly for the restroom. Roddy and Jackson both felt shocked that Sterling treated her so badly, but decided not to make a scene about it.

"Nice girl." Was all Roddy could say as Wilson walked back into the garage.

"I know," Sterling grinned, cracking his knuckles, "I'm glad dad set me up with her, her dad's one of the best importers on the West Coast." Roddy was beginning to feel more uncomfortable, so he decided to change the topic a bit as Jackson stood behind him.

"So…" Roddy started, "What kind of car do you drive?"

"Only the best!" Sterling grinned, putting on his best bragging face, "An Infiniti G35 sport coupe with all the finest trimmings!"

"More like the finest rice out there…" Roddy muttered.

"What was that?" Sterling asked as Lewis suddenly revved into the pits, the Lotus making a feeble noise. Behind him, Red had also arrived back in the pits with his S2000. As Roddy looked, he found the Elan's rear end had been damaged, as if it had been run into; and judging by the off-red paint on the rear and front-end damage on the modern, it did not take a genius to find out who did it.

"This piece of crap ran into me!" Red shouted, leaping out of his car and running up to Lewis, "He messed with my Honda!"

"You shut the hell up!" Lewis shouted back, climbing out of the Elan as Jackson and Wilson ran out to inspect the damage "Your stupid rice-mobile went into an uncontrolled skid and collided into me! Now my dad's Elan's leaking oil thanks to you!"

"You should be thanking me!" Red shouted, his voice an aggressive rasp, "Your turd of a car shouldn't be out on the track anyway!"

"I'll frickin' show you then!" Lewis yelled, thumping his chest as Sterling and Red's friends shouted for a fight. However, Sterling held up his hands and quieted his friends down, a smirk on his face as Haruka returned from her bathroom break.

"Easy does it, my guys!" Sterling said, almost sounding diplomatic, "It's clear that there was an accident here, no doubt about it. But…" He then turned to Lewis, "You did disrespect my friend back there. Wasn't a good thing to do and I'd let you fight about it with your fists, but here." He paused, pointing down at the ground, "We settle things on the track. If you win, you get righteous retribution on my friend here; if I win, well…" Sterling grinned, licking his top teeth and chuckling as he tilted his head up.

"You'll what?" Lewis said, seeing Haruka in his peripheral vision, before returning to Sterling.

"We play for pinks here." Sterling finished, tilting his sunglasses up, "Whoever wins keeps the owner's car; whoever loses has to walk home." With a flourish, he spread his arms out and said, "Simple as that."

"But we don't even have a car to race." Jackson admitted, "At least we can't send the Elan out."

"Well, sucks to be you then." Sterling grinned, as his cohorts laughed behind him. Roddy thought for a moment, tapping his chin before looking over at Haruka's nervous face as she rejoined the group. In a moment of complete insanity, he stepped up to Sterling and stomped his foot.

"I accept!" Roddy shouted, as a sudden hush fell over the group.

" _You_ accept?" Sterling concluded, not smiling anymore as he sized the smaller Asian up. Roddy stood tall, fists clenched as he made sure not to let Sterling see through him, as Sterling continued, "I don't believe we finished our conversation. What kind of car do _you_ have?"

"Honda Del Sol," Roddy said, to which Sterling began laughing hard, causing his cohorts to laugh as well. Haruka let off a little titter, which Lewis noticed and made a mental note.

"A Del Sol?!" Sterling laughed, "You think that little tin box can beat my masterpiece of a ride?" Roddy's response came swiftly when he suddenly punched Sterling in the face, causing the taller male to reel back suddenly. His cohorts and Haruka, as well as Jackson, Lewis and Wilson all gasped, falling quiet. Roddy stood there with his fist still out, breathing heavily through clenched teeth as he looked back to his nervous friends. They all shook their heads, scared looks plastered across their faces.

"So…" Sterling said, standing back up straight, "I see how it's gonna be…" Wiping a little blood off his swollen lip, he continued, "Get your stupid car, meet me here in the pits. I'll be waiting." With that, Sterling turned around and snapped his fingers, regrouping everyone into his garage. Roddy stood there for several minutes, his heart pounding as his brain flew in "Fight or Flight" mode. What the hell did he just do? Did he commit suicide? Was he going to die? All these questions were flying about in his head, right until Lewis broke the silence.

"...Have you gone _FRICKING INSANE?!_ " He shouted, grabbing at his hair, "You didn't just do what I think you just did!"

"I don't think any of us did…" Wilson said quietly, pushing the Lotus into the garage with Jackson.

"I did…" Roddy said nervously, "I just punched him in the face and accepted his terms."

"You could have just not!" Lewis said, now flailing his arms, "You know the consequences if you lose, right?!"

"I'm gonna die." Roddy said, shivering as Lewis came up behind him and pulled him roughly out of his mind and into the garage.

"You're not gonna die!" Lewis said, before taking a few breaths to calm himself down, "You're just gonna race responsibly, like the tortoise and the hare."

"Ok…" Roddy sighed, looking out the open garage door at the Del Sol. He then gathered up what determination he had and said, "Alright, let's do this.

"There's the Roddy I've been looking for!" Lewis grinned, fistbumping Roddy as Wilson and Jackson moved the Del Sol into the garage.

"Yup, let's get to work!" Roddy smiled, grabbing a random wrench as Lewis walked out to the pit lane to look into Sterling's garage. He had hoped to catch a glimpse of that cute Asian girl he saw out of the corner of his eye, and how lonely she looked. As he leaned in for a better look from afar, Lewis found her huddled up near the door, standing next to Sterling and pretending to have a good time. Her eyes strayed out the garage door and locked with Lewis', as Haruka suddenly felt a fluttering sensation deep in her chest. Lewis felt the same too; he was never one to believe in love at first sight, but in his head, he sure as hell found his. A sudden clanging in the garage took his attention away from Haruka as Roddy was crying over a fallen wrench. Haruka and Lewis both quickly withdrew their eyes from each other and departed company. It was going to take a lot for Lewis to get to talk to her, but he had no doubt in his mind that she was the one.


	4. An Unworthy Challenge

Roddy's Del Sol was soon properly race prepped an hour later, with the safety belts from the Elan in place of the standard ones. Roddy sat in the driver's seat, gripping the wheel and practicing his tactics silently as Lewis checked the air in the tires and Jackson topped off the gas tank. Wilson looked out to the track to watch the other cars race and have fun, before turning his attention back to his nervous crew.

"There's no loss in turning a race down." Wilson said to Roddy, "You can still call it quits."

"I'll call it quits when I win." Roddy stubbornly replied as he put on his racing helmet and gloves, "I got something to prove out there and I _will_ beat that idiot Brandt." With that, Roddy fired up the Del Sol and revved its engine. It wasn't a mighty powerful rev coming from the little four-cylinder engine, but it would do for now.

As Roddy rolled slowly outside, he found Sterling's car already on the pit lane and ready to go. The car was an Infiniti G35 coupe as Sterling said, but it appeared more as an outrageous parody of one. For one thing, the large, sleek two-door was painted a sleek metallic silver, one that seemed to reflect everything and turned the car into a giant rolling heat-ray. Upon the rear was mounted with a ridiculously-big carbon fiber wing supported by a spaghetti strand of rods and screw mounts. The front also had a massive carbon fiber splitter, with an intercooler grille poking out of a notch cut into the front bumper. The rear featured a titanium, iridescent blue exhaust pipe nearly three inches wide, buzzing loudly much like the S2000 and spitting flames out every time the tachometer went to the redline. Due to the car's low suspension, the exhaust nearly scraped the ground as the massive, excessive machine rolled around on 24-inch magnesium alloy wheels and the thinnest of low-profile tires. Sterling was leaning on his car's front, talking with some of his cohorts before he noticed Roddy's ride.

"Oh-ho-ho!" He chortled teasingly, walking around Roddy's Del Sol to inspect it with his cohorts, knocking on the matte-black hood "Seems someone watches _Initial-D_!"

"I don't." Roddy seethed, "I hate the show. Anyway, what's the challenge here?"

"Three laps," Sterling replied, ceasing his laughter, "Whoever reaches the pits first after three gets pinks!"

"Sounds easy enough." Roddy said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Oh it is!" Sterling replied as he donned his helmet and climbed into his car, "In fact, I'll give you a ten-second head start!"

"Oh, right!" Roddy said, sighing in relief, "When do I go?"

"Three seconds ago." Sterling said, evilly grinning as he closed the door to his car and fired it up with a loud, animalistic roar.

"Crap!" Roddy said, accelerating out of the pitlane to not waste any time and joining the main raceway. Remembering his dream, Roddy short-shifted the Del Sol into top gear and began racing around the track, hoping to get a lead on his opponent. Sterling meanwhile checked his watch and then stepped on the gas, effortlessly gliding out of the pits and onto the track. With some careful shifting, the cocky driver soon had his sights set on the little Honda coupe and chased him down. Roddy gulped, as after he sped through one "ear" on Jackrabbit Springs, he found Sterling coming up on him. The younger male gulped and stepped on it, the Honda's little engine being pushed towards the red line as Roddy hoped to gain more ground in his favor.

Whipping the cars into the second ear, Sterling drew up alongside Roddy and looked to him. Roddy merely gave him a frown as Sterling grinned, before he stomped on the gas pedal and left Roddy in the dust. The younger male growled angrily, shifting his car into a lower gear and getting the tachometer into the redline, making the engine whine slightly as he accelerated faster. To Roddy, this was no longer about winning, this was about showing up Sterling on his own turf. That was Roddy's fatal flaw in a way, being so loyal in defending his friends that he was willing to do anything to make sure they weren't disrespected, even if it proved to be a bone-headed idea in hindsight. As they two lined up for the main straightaway, Roddy shifted into third gear and stomped on the gas again, the tachometer going halfway up the red line. The engine whined louder, as if it was in pain, but Roddy ignored it. His mind only had one thing on it: to beat Sterling Brandt to a second-place pulp.

The others, meanwhile, leaned against the pit's retaining wall and waited for the others to go by. As Lewis found a place to stand, he suddenly found himself standing right next to Haruka. This made the boy blush and look away, which caused Haruka to blush and look down, embarrassed. Jackson and Wilson were still watching the track as Red and Sterling's other cohorts decided to trash-talk the tiny Del Sol. The two shy lovers made no noise to each other until Haruka decided to speak up.

"H-hi…" She said, shrinking slightly as she thought to herself, "He looks cute…"

"Hi…" Lewis said back, as he thought to himself, "Oh my god, she's so cute!"

"What's your name…?" Haruka continued, looking up at him slightly now.

"I'm… uh…" Lewis stammered, blushing as he rubbed the back of his head, "I, um...am… L-Lewis Radinsky, you?"

"Haruka Tochi…" Haruka responded, tapping the top of the wall with her finger, "Nice Lotus…"

"Oh, well…" Lewis blushed, looking at Wilson who was busy looking out for Roddy, "Th-thank you…"

"It's your dad's…?" Haruka asked.

"Um, yes," Lewis said, clearing his throat and becoming more comfortable, "He owns a garage along Huntington, we do everything with every car."

"Even bikes?" She wondered again, looking a bit excited.

"Yeah…" Lewis concluded, tapping his straightedge jawline before looking into her big, innocent brown eyes, "We do bikes too."

A sudden loud noise broke their conversation as Sterling shot past in his loud Infiniti, followed by Roddy in the little Honda Del Sol. Sterling's cohorts cheered, including Red, as Jackson listened to the white coupe's engine as it shot by.

"It doesn't sound good, Mr. Radinsky." He concluded, shaking his head.

"Why not, Jackson?" Wilson asked.

"Roddy's Del Sol's starting to grind a bit." The afro-topped male concluded, "Sounds like his engine's gonna blow."

"You think…" Wilson said, a dark look across his face, "You think he might know that?"

"I hope so…" Jackson said.

Meanwhile, Roddy was doing all he could to chase Sterling around the corners. Every shift he had was perfect, every opportunity he tried to take, every single thing he tried couldn't get his wimpy little car to catch up with Sterling's fire-spitting Infiniti. Roddy cursed, and he cursed hard as he whipped the Del Sol into a turn. The small car's engine whined in response, tires squealing as Roddy growled and stomped his foot harder out of the turn. Sterling noticed this and began to slow down, fire popping out of his tailpipe as he let Roddy take the lead suddenly going into the back straight. Roddy was surprised by the turn of events and took the opportunity to blow past Sterling. As he did, though, Roddy was suddenly shaken by a powerful jolt, as the Honda suddenly began to spit black smoke from the steering then locked up, causing Roddy to scream as he suddenly skidded off the track and into the grass, the Del Sol's engine smoking under the hood and beginning to lick with flame. As the car came to a complete stop on the dry dirt, the caution flag quickly went out and Roddy ran as fast as he could out of the car. Just as he was in the clear however, the car exploded into a giant fireball that could be seen all the way from the pits. Wilson, Jackson, Lewis and Haruka meanwhile gasped at the sight, as Sterling's cohorts cheered when their leader rolled victoriously into the pits, happily celebrating with them as if nothing bad had happened. At least, to anyone Sterling cared about.

"Haruka!" Sterling called as he stood atop his car, arms raised and beckoning the girl over, "Come celebrate with your victor!"

"I-I will!" Haruka called back, acting on impulse suddenly as she scribbled her number on a slip of torn paper and handed it to Lewis suddenly, thrusting the scrap into his hands before running off to join Sterling. Jackson and Wilson meanwhile couldn't believe their eyes.

The ambulance and fire chief were later called in to inspect the damage and found Roddy wasn't hurt at all from the experience. Roddy, however, was dead silent driving home in Lewis' car, looking wistfully out the window. He was worried about what his parents might say when they found out he blew up his car and took that day's delivery with it. The more he stared out the window, the more worried he became. Lewis tried his best to alleviate his friend's anxiety, but to no avail. Later that night, Roddy knocked mournfully on the door to his parent's apartment and was quickly greeted by his mother.

"Oh my goodness!" She cried, hugging the traumatized Roddy tightly, looking him in the eyes and asking, "What happened to you?!"

It was a long talk that night.

The next morning, under a light blanket of clouds, Roddy walked the full mile from his parents' apartment to Wilson's garage. From what he could remember from his conversation last night, his mother and father were both disappointed in Roddy having been so weak-willed and accepting a stupid dare, but were still glad to see he was still unhurt. Physically unhurt, that is. Doubt still clouded Roddy's mind as he walked through the drizzle coming down on him. Sure, he didn't care much about Citron in the first place, but it was still his second car and managed to take care of the little coupe for three years. It was also the first car he ever fully owned as well, not having to depend on which ever car his parents decided not to take on any given day. Perhaps it was the car's age that factored into it blowing up, Roddy mused as he pulled his hood-straps tighter around his head. As his footsteps splashed on the pavement, he soon found himself walking up to Wilson's garage, the Mission St. Independent Auto.

The garage was decently sized, a five-stall independent operation built on the grounds of an older garage that had been refurbished for modern use. Surrounded on both sides by big modern buildings, a furniture store and an auto sales lot, it almost resembled a California mission slightly, with orange-tiled roofs, white-stucco walls, and even a decorative miniature bell and clock tower; but it sacrificed the arched doorways for square garage doors. Roddy strode in through the open front gates of the garage and headed for the front office. Around him, cars lay about in various states of repair and disrepair, with the only shining beacons of engineering being the Freightliner flatbed truck, Lewis' Impala wagon, "Pegasus", and Jackson's Land Rover 110, "Forrest". The Lotus Elan was located in the far side of the garage, slightly lifted to allow Jackson and Lewis to work on the car. Roddy chewed on his cheek as he walked up to the front office's door and knocked. Wilson, ever the beacon of light in times like this, happily opened the door and let Roddy in.

"Morning, Roddy!" He said, giving the smaller male a pat on the shoulder and a hot chocolate, "Jackson and Lewis are out in the garage, fixing up the Elan. Wanna know how they're doing it?"

"Suctioning the dents?" Roddy croaked, his voice unaccustomed to speaking since this morning as he chased down a gulp of hot chocolate.

"Actually," Wilson said, sitting behind his desk, "They're hammering the dent back into place, said old methods would help out here." Roddy nodded slightly, sipping his drink and looking away from Wilson. The older man sighed, leaning over his desk and thinking of what to say next, before he continued, "Still bummed about yesterday?"

"I lost a car, Wilson…" Roddy bluntly admitted, "Mom and dad were just fine to know I was still alive and knew the car would go at some point, but I was stupid to chase after St-..." He then stopped himself and bit his own tongue, not even bringing himself to say his name. Wilson nodded sagely, sipping his coffee and continue.

"Consider it then a… friend's favor," He said, "That if you do find a new car, I'll help you fix it up so it doesn't blow up like that when pushed." Wilson then shrugged, continuing, "Who knows, you'll find a car that'll beat Sterling Brandt and win your confidence back." Roddy perked up at this, taking his hood off for the first time to reveal his unkempt moptop, a first, and his tear streaked eyes, still stained from last night.

"Seriously?" Roddy said before coughing, to which Wilson nodded..

"It'd be the least I could do for a friend of my son's, and an honored apprentice here." He smiled, right before Roddy ran right up to Wilson and gave the older man a nice, long hug. "There there," Wilson whispered, before pulling Roddy away gently and giving him a smile. Roddy smiled back, letting out an involuntary chuckle before Lewis suddenly stepped into the room. The lanky male was now dressed in a dirty blue Oxford dress-shirt and baggy jeans, with a Union Pacific cap topping his head.

"Hey dad!" Lewis said as he came in, "Oh, hey Roddy!"

"Hey." Roddy gently said, giving Lewis a tight hug.

"Whoa, glad to see you're ok!" Lewis grinned, tightly hugging Roddy back, "Hey, I got something that can cheer you up."

"What is it?" Roddy wondered, pulling himself off Lewis.

"There's a farmstead up near Lancaster that has a huge junkyard," Lewis explained, leaning on his father's desk, "I contacted the owner of it and found out he's got a Lotus Elan we're able to salvage parts from. Who knows, maybe you'll find your next car in there!" Roddy grinned at the prospect, looking genuinely happy since this morning.

"Then what the heck are we waiting for!?" Roddy shouted, "Let's get going!"

"Heck yeah!" Lewis shouted back as Wilson grinned, afterwards saying, "But first, I need me some coffee!"

"Oh, of course," Roddy said as he rolled his eyes, "I _totally_ forgot you're addicted to the stuff."

"It's not an addiction if I can quit anytime!" Lewis shouted back as he poured himself a tall cup from his dad's coffee machine, then added some hazelnut creamer to make it his own. After a quick gulp, Lewis strode out the door and towards Pegasus, saying, "Let's go!"


	5. The Revival

Pegasus soon made its way onto the 210 freeway towards Angeles Crest, and Roddy still couldn't believe how smooth the ride was in the old Impala. The interior of the car was as nicely decked out in black leather with silver stripes, to help accent the outside and still provide a comfy ride. The whole car had been Lewis' pet project ever since he and Roddy met one night at the Pomona Fairgrounds for a drag-racing night. Now, Lewis had built the ultimate "sleeper" car, which is a car that looks stock outside, but is heavily modified inside, and the young male was quite proud as the LS engine rumbled down the highway, speed metal blasting on the modern radio deck connected to Lewis' smartphone. On a cupholder on the driver's left side was his coffee, which he regularly took sips out of as he drove along in the quickly-dissipating rain. Roddy, meanwhile, just admired the scenery passing by as Lewis exited off the freeway and headed along Highway 2 North, colloquially called the "Angeles Crest Highway".

"Yo Rod, what's on your mind?" Lewis suddenly said, starting to head uphill. This jolted Roddy out of staring into space as he looked to the driver.

"Oh, just wondering what we're going to find over at the junkyard." Roddy replied.

"Cools, cools," Lewis replied, taking a tight hairpin corner quickly before he sighed blissfully, "I still can't believe it though."

"Believe what?" Roddy wondered as he pulled out his smartphone to answer a message from his mother, saying as he typed, "I'm fine mom, love you."

"That I got that girl's phone-number," Lewis stated, thinking as he rounded another tight hairpin, "What was her name…? Oh right, Haruka!"

"No way!" Roddy said, shocked as he sat up in his seat as Pegasus continued climbing Angeles Crest, "Sterling Brandt's girlfriend?"

"She didn't consider him his boyfriend, that's for sure." Lewis said, passing a slow minivan in his way, "So we talked and found we had some stuff in common…" Lewis then giggled, thinking of Haruka's cute face from yesterday, before adding, "...including being dorky coffee-addled gearheads."

"I'm amazed that there's more of your type out there," Roddy muttered, never having tried a drop of coffee in his life.

"Well what about you and that tomboy out in Long Beach?" Lewis wondered,"Wasn't she your type?"

"She still kind of is," Roddy replied simply, "But we're better off as friends honestly."

"With benefits…" Lewis muttered as the station wagon dove through a tunnel. This gave Lewis a chance to rev Pegasus' engine but also hide his secret words from Roddy.

"What was that?" Roddy wondered as light flooded the car once again.

"Oh, nothing." Lewis said, feigning ignorance.

The next hour or so went by rather quietly as Roddy looked out at the canyon-esque dry mountain landscape of the Angeles mountain range. Pegasus soon managed to crest the mountains and soon descended down into the dry, arid scenery of Lancaster. Farms lay on both sides of the road as Pegasus rumbled ahead down the straight, flat country back-road and through the quiet town of Palmdale. Roddy soon felt bored, seeing nothing but dry, orange-yellow flat land all around him which were all surrounded by green-yellow, gently rolling hills. All of a sudden, Lewis suddenly cut the wheel to the right and got off the highway, heading onto a dirt road that bumped and jerked the Impala about. The soft suspension did nothing to mask the rough road, which bounced Roddy and Lewis inside like popcorn in a bucket.

"Go on, get on that!" Lewis yelled as he stepped harder on Pegasus' gas pedal, causing the car to rev its powerful engine as it went faster on the dusty road.

"Whoa, slow down!" Roddy yelled back, hanging on for dear life, "We need to be able to stop!"

"Oh fine…" Lewis pouted as he let off Pegasus' gas pedal and cadance-braked it gently into a large farming estate. All the two could see were an old house, a large barn, a tall silo, and junk cars as far as the eye can see. Over them, a sign passed by reading: "Wilde Classic Auto and Salvage," to which Roddy whistled as they came up to a parking lot half-full of other scavengers.

"Is this the place?" He asked as he got out of the car, shielding his face from all the dust blowing in their direction.

"Eeyup," Lewis replied as he stepped out and closed the door, "I'll go inside and check ourselves in, you can go in and wander about while I look for the Elan parts."

"Alright!" Roddy called as he adjusted his glasses and began chewing on his cheek, walking into the massive junkyard.

Nothing seemed to impress Roddy as far as looking for a car was concerned. As he wandered through the tall weeds and grasses filling the property, a few junked vehicles was able to catch his eye. "All of these seem to be in terrible condition," He muttered to himself as Roddy passed by a filthy Lincoln Town Car, the immense rectangular body sitting wheel-less on four car rims embedded in the ground, "And none of these stand a chance of beating Sterling Brandt…" Roddy then approached a large and rusted-out Buick 8 sedan that was missing its engine hood, its chrome-toothed mug still shining in the dry California sunlight. Approaching the resting hulk that once screamed "Fifties excess", Roddy gave it a light kick to the grill before it, the fenders, doors and rear hood all suddenly fell off with a loud, dull clanging. Frightened, Roddy quickly zipped away, thinking, "Not that one, not that one!" before anyone could notice.

A few minutes of searching later and Roddy was ready to give up. None of the cars he found, not even a little sleek 1960s Chevrolet Stingray that was missing its distinctive rear glass, was good enough for him to restore. As he rounded a corner and eyed a battered and, most likely war-beaten, Willys Jeep sitting upside-down on the ground, Roddy couldn't help but get the feeling he was being watched. He then stopped in his tracks, the silence in the junkyard almost deafening if not for the slight breeze blowing through. As if sensing whatever was staring at him, Roddy turned around to find… a Volkswagen Beetle staring back at him from under a lone shady tree. Raising an eyebrow in confusion, he approached the little car carefully until he could get a look at it. Roddy soon found that found that aside from some weathering and a flat tire, it looked to be in good condition, as if it was a recent addition. He couldn't get rid of the feeling of being watched though, and so kept his distance around the little car.

The Volkswagen itself was in pretty good condition, no rust along its curvaceously plain body or tearing in the fabric sunroof or interior cloth. It was painted an ordinary pearl white, which appeared to be grey or beige under both the layers of dust that caked it and the shade of the tree. The chrome around its hubcaps, glass and headlights were also dusted over as well, some even possessing cracks of rust. On its doors and hood displayed the number "53" in a black-outlined white roundel with black outlines; and red, white, and blue stripes ran up the entire length of the car, offset slightly to the left and across the sunroof. Roddy soon shook off the odd feeling as he was impressed, walking up to the little car and looking inside its dusty windows.

"Damn, you have it good out here, don't you?" he commented, "Got shade and everything, away from all the others being sunbaked out here." Roddy then grabbed the driver's door handle and opened the doors, finding the grey-colored interior to be in a proper state. A rollbar went across the middle of the car's length, between the doors and rear windows, and the seats were all race prepped with three-point safety harnesses. Roddy whistled, further impressed. "Someone must have gone racing in you…" He said, "I bet you even got a bangin' engine." That sentiment soon led to disappointment as Roddy opened up the car's rear decklid to find… an ordinary Volkswagen 1,200 cubic-centimeter flat-four engine. In car terms, it was small and weak and not for Roddy's purposes.

"Pah," Roddy grunted, shutting the decklid in disappointment as he stomped out from behind the car, "Should have known, car was probably owned by some lunatic who thought his car could go fast." In a mocking voice in front of the car, Roddy imitated a dumb driver stereotype by saying, "Ooooh, the stickers add ten horsepower!" Then, in his normal voice, he muttered, "Bullcrap…"

As Roddy walked back to the main entrance to go check on Lewis, he suddenly heard some clattering behind him. Looking behind him, Roddy was greeted to an unbelievable sight. The little Volkswagen was wiggling about on its own, its headlights looking right at Roddy as the sound of its engine trying to tick over can be heard. With a loud bang that set off a cloud of backfire and black smoke behind the Volkswagen's headlights turned on dimly, right in Roddy's direction. It didn't look like a cute little car anymore.

"...AaaaaAAAAAAHHHHH!" Roddy screamed as the car suddenly roared into life and began to chase after the young male, limping along on one flat front tire as its rear tires kicked up dirt behind it. Roddy ran for his life through the maze of junk cars, not believe for one second he was being chased by a psychotic car. The Volkswagen was relentless however, even when its bum tire burst and it was left limping along on its rim, its engine roaring louder than any Beetle Roddy ever heard.

Lewis was meanwhile talking with Mr. Wilde, the green-Hawaiian-shirted owner of the junkyard while his plaid-shirted wife stood outside their house, negotiating part prices over a junked Lotus Elan chassis. As Roddy's screams got closer, a sudden bang was heard as Roddy came running up, looking as if he had seen a ghost.

"Roddy!?" Lewis shouted, catching the smaller male as he ran into him, holding him tightly, "What the heck happened!?"

"C-car!" Was all Roddy could stammer, "K-killer car out there!"

"Killer car?" Mr. Wilde raised an eyebrow, making sure no other customers could hear them as he spoke in a smooth, business-like voice, "I assure you, sir that I've got no killer cars in _my_ junkyard. Unless, I dunno…" He then shrugged, "Someone showed up with a psychotic Plymouth Belvedere. Where was this killer car you saw?"

Roddy soon led them over to where he last saw the Volkswagen, only to find it sitting right around the corner, having stopped suddenly and was now lying dormant. Roddy was cautious to approach it, but Lewis and Mr. Wilde looked over the little car carefully.

"Oh yeah!" Mr. Wilde laughed, patting the car's top, "I know this one! Just came in from an estate sale! This is an old race car apparently, owned by a local guy out in Pasadena. His owner passed away last year, so much of his stuff was sold, including a lot of racing trophies."

"Racing trophies?" Lewis asked, incredulous, "This thing actually won races?"

"All around the world too!" Mr. Wilde said, "There were racing cups from Brazil, Monte Carlo, Wales, as well as the many SCCA trophies sold as a set."

"Who was this guy, you gotta wonder." Roddy muttered, approaching the car again, "Pushing a little car to the limit like that…"

"I think I remember his name." Mr. Wilde finally said, snapping his fingers, "It was Jim Douglas." Roddy and Lewis looked at each other and frowned, having never heard of the name before.

"Whoever he was," Lewis commented, "He must have known how to get such performance out of a small car like this. What's the engine on it?"

"I checked." Roddy said, gently setting his hand down on the Volkswagen's hood as delicately as he could, "Just your ordinary 1200cc flat-four."

"Huh…" Was all Lewis could say, inspecting the car, "I daresay, Roddy, that I think you can take this one on the track easy! This one looks ready to run too, and running costs shouldn't be that bad."

"You think?" Roddy wondered, looking down at the big "53" on the hood, before looking back at Mr. Wilde and asking, "Whatcha lookin' to get it for?"

"Hmm…" Mr. Wilde wondered, "Never thought I'd get anything much out of this old racecar, really, and it's not really a famous one anymore…" Then he snapped his fingers, "Tell you what, if you can trailer it out of here yourselves, I'll give it to you for $200."

"Wait, what?" Roddy suddenly asked, catching his jaw, "Why that low?"

"Eh, it's no real use to me and I'd rather see it go to someone who's able to take care of it." Mr. Wilde shrugged, "So what do ya say?"

"Well, uh…" Roddy said, digging in his wallet, "I got $75 right now, I can give you the rest when we return with his dad's truck." He then pointed at Lewis, to which Mr. Wilde nodded.

"You got yourself a deal," He replied, holding out his hand as Roddy deposited the bills from his wallet to Mr. Wilde, "There's your deposit down, I'll have the little car ready for you when you return."

"Awesome!" Roddy said, grinning to Lewis as he patted the Volkswagen's hood, saying, "You're mine now!"

After a quick call to the garage, Wilson was over an hour later with the proper money and the Freightliner flatbed truck. Lewis and Roddy were waiting for him with the little car, which now had another wheel with a better tire from another junk Beetle sitting out in the yard. As Mr. Wilde was paid off, Lewis winched the Beetle onto the back of the truck and made sure to tie it down securely as Roddy sat in the truck's cab, completely excited about his new ride. With the Elan's parts in Pegasus, Lewis gave a honk as he took off first, with Wilson following after.

"So!" Wilson grinned, looking over at the ecstatic Roddy, "You got a new car!"

"Oh yes!" Roddy exclaimed, "And it's a bonafide racecar too, apparently!"

"Whoa," Wilson whistled, "I'm impressed! Who drove it?"

"This guy named Jim Douglas," Roddy replied, "I don't recognize the name though."

"Oh yeah, I know Douglas." Wilson said, "I went to his funeral, the guy was big on racing his little bug in all the big road rallies and SCCA stuff. Nice guy too, from what I hear."

"Wonder why I never heard of him before though." Roddy wondered, to which Wilson shrugged.

"Maybe he was before your time." Wilson replied. Roddy nodded and looked in the back window at the Volkswagen riding pretty on the flatbed. Neither of them could believe their own luck; Roddy had found his own race car and Herbie had found a new home. Both eagerly bounced and wiggled about as the truck started to climb up into Angeles Crest again after Lewis, but neither were truly aware of each other's actions.


	6. Me and My Big Mouth

With Herbie back at the Mission St. garage that afternoon, the three men wasted no time in making Herbie look good. Bulbs were replaced, a cracked distributor was thrown away, new tires were fitted and finally the little car was given a thorough cleaning inside and out in the middle of the garage's lot. Meanwhile, regular customers filed in and out to get their cars repaired or checked, all of them couldn't help but admire the flashy little Beetle now being tended to by Roddy and Lewis. As Roddy was busy wiping the inside of the car's windshield, the glove compartment door suddenly flopped open, startling Roddy slightly and causing the little Volkswagen to jerk slightly as Lewis was fitting a new Carello foglamp onto the front hood.

"You ok?" Lewis called out as Roddy caught his breath.

"Y-yeah!" Roddy called back, finding an envelope had fallen onto the glove compartment's door. Setting his cleaning bottle and rag down, he gingerly picked up the envelope and opened it, reading its contents out loud: "To Herbie: I hope you find a loving owner and know that wherever you are, I'm always with you. With love, Jim Douglas."

A sudden wailing beep broke the peaceful silence of the garage as Lewis covered his ears, curled on the ground as his head had been right near the horn when it went off. Roddy jumped as well, frantically looking to the driver's seat to find the horn handle was pressing itself in and out on its own. The windshield wipers were going off as well, the washers spraying water all over the newly cleaned windshield and down the car's front and sides. "What the hell?!" Roddy shouted over the din as he ran out and opened the Volkswagen's decklid. With a sudden yank, he disconnected the car's battery and the horn and windshield wipers. died down, as Wilson ran outside to investigate the noise.

"What happened?" He said to Lewis and Roddy, "I heard a bunch of beeping, did any of you honk its horn?"

"Not...me…" Lewis painfully said, rubbing his ears as he got up dizzily, "R-roddy…?"

"Not me either," Roddy said truthfully as he shut the car's decklid, "Because I was reading this." He handed the letter over to Wilson, who read over the letter with Lewis, who was wiping the car clean of the water.

"Wow…" Wilson whistled again as Roddy opened up the car's rear decklid and reconnected the battery, "Herbie, huh?"

"It's a cute name," Lewis smirked, as he patted Herbie's fender, "I like it!" Herbie suddenly beeped in response, sounding quite thankful for the compliment. All three men looked at each other and inside to make sure nobody had touched anything.

"The horn isn't glitchy on this car, is it?" Roddy asked Wilson.

"I bet you not," Wilson responded, "Far as I know, the wiring on this ca-.." He stopped himself, then continued, " _Herbie_ was fine when I inspected it."

"Maybe he's got his own life to him?" Lewis suggested, to which Wilson and Roddy gave him incredulous looks as he continued, "Well, you know how we named our cars, right?"

"Right." Roddy replied.

"Well," Lewis continued, "Maybe it's something like that, you know? We give our cars all this love and warmth and kindness and respect… And then, we treat 'em like friends or family, that they become our friends and family."

"You're not seriously suggesting that this car came to life based on someone imbuing its bare metal with emotion, are you?" Roddy snarked, to which Lewis rebutted.

"No such thing, because that's ridiculous." He stated, "I'm just saying, cars can take on the life and personality of their owners, hence why Pegasus always sounds like she's guzzling coffee!"

"Oooh, now I get it." Roddy nodded, patting Herbie's rear windscreen, "Still, having a living car's gonna be weird." Herbie beeped in agreement, which Wilson and Lewis tilted their head at in interest.

"So," Wilson proposed, "Want to take him on a little test run, you two?"

"Sure." Roddy said as he climbed into Herbie's driver's seat, "It'll be a good chance to get familiar with him."

"Alright, I'll come with!" Lewis eagerly nodded before going back inside for another cup of coffee, yelling, "Be right back!"

"Of course!" Roddy shouted back as he fired up Herbie.

The little car's engine purred warmly as Lewis quickly got into Herbie's passenger seat, mounting a cupholder and his coffee on the little car's handlebar right above the glove compartment.

"Really, in my car?" Roddy asked, raising an eyebrow as he put Herbie into gear.

"What?" Lewis responded as if nothing was amiss, "Gotta always be prepared in any emergency!"

"Fine, fine, let's go." Roddy replied as Herbie rolled out of the garage smoothly and onto Colorado Boulevard, merging effortlessly into little car felt excited to be out on the road again, especially with an owner that cared for him so much. He didn't mean to cry when Roddy read out Jim's letter, but it still hurt the little car to know the one man who saw his potential and worth was gone. That was all gone, however, as the little bug comforted himself in knowing that his new owners would love and care for him just as Jim did, and trusted that they'd never let him down.

Coming to a stoplight on a residential road far from the main street, Herbie braked smoothly and was presently joined by a loud, booming Honda Civic hatchback. The car, compared to Herbie, was squarer than the Bug, and in much worse condition. Two of the body fenders were the wrong color, which didn't matter as the entire car looked to be painted in matte spray paint. A loud exhaust coming right out of the hood was causing the booming noise, creating flames everytime the engine was revved much like Sterling's car. On the front end, one headlight remained up while the other was folded, and much of the front bumper had been hacked away to make room for a gaping chrome intercooler grille, which was sitting well too low to the ground to clear any kind of speed bump. On the rear end, a massive spoiler was put up nearly way too high on the rear hatch, which seemed to hardly do anything useful. Inside, the young driver banged his head to the Eurobeat music blasting out of his awful speaker system, but the only thing audible to anyone outside the car was a bothersome, almost nauseating buzzing. The only good thing that could be said about the little Civic was it's nice designer rims with low profile tyres, of which there were only two of them on the rear. The front pair, meanwhile, were the normal steel wheels with thick tyres and half the plastic hubcap ripped away. Its driver turned to Roddy and Lewis with a sneer, revving his engine loudly to intimidate them as the two looked to him with just abject disgust.

"This ricer's not gonna race us, is he?" Lewis wondered.

"Nah," Roddy said, "At least I hope not."

"EY YO BRO!" Yelled out the "Ricer" in the Civic, laughing madly "Mind if I squash that bug for you?!"

"Be serious, will you?" Roddy scoffed before rolling up his window. The ricer immediately began hollering in his seat, whooping madly as he revved his engine again and again.

"He's gonna race us, isn't he." Lewis stated.

"Yup, so I suggest you hang on." Roddy nodded and tightened his grip on the wheel, looking at the light in anticipation.

When the light turned green, the ricer immediately pulled away. Herbie, however, decided to do a wheelie and roared his little flat-four to life. Lewis and Roddy screamed as the bug rose up before landing back down and tearing down the thoroughfare like a lightning bolt. The ricer thought he'd have the bug at the next stoplight, but that wasn't the case as Herbie suddenly came swerving through from behind into the other lane and coming to a stop at the next light. Incredulous, the ricer slowed down as he came to a stop next to the Beetle and turned his annoying music off.

"Dude!" he called, as Roddy lowered his window, "That was frickin' wicked! What'd you do to this car?!"

"An adjustment here, adjustment there." Roddy said humbly, though the two men and the little car knew the truth.

"You guys should really go to this car show I'm headed to!" The ricer continued, people're gonna love your ride there!" With that, the light turned green and the ricer sped away loudly, while Herbie started off as normally as possible.

"So, you wanna go there?" Roddy asked. Herbie gave a little beep of approval, but Lewis was less certain.

"I dunno," He said, "those car shows are never a good idea. Attracts the wrong kind of people."

"I'm sure we'll be fine." Roddy grinned, patting Herbie's dashboard, "We still got a nice ride, don't we?" Herbie nodded on his suspension, causing the two men to be thrashed about slightly as they made their way after the crazy Civic.

The car show was an impromptu affair, located in in an old abandoned parking lot that used to be a used car lot. When Herbie arrived, there were already many import and domestic sports cars there, the cacophony of engines much louder than at Jackrabbit Springs. When Herbie rolled through, many of the owners and attendees stopped and looked at the little Volkswagen slowly revving past them. Some even began to laugh, which made the bug start to shake, feeling very uncomfortable.

"Whoa, Herbie!" Roddy said, as Lewis gently petted his dashboard, "Are you ok?"

"Well well well…" came a suddenly-familiar voice, as Herbie jerked to a stop, "What do we have here?" Roddy and Lewis stopped and look to find Sterling Brandt standing right to their left with his Infiniti. Haruka was, again, by his side and looking quite uninterested, but her heart fluttered lightly when she saw Lewis, his heart doing the same.

"Seems the flaming shrimp got a new ride!" Sterling grinned, leaning on Herbie's roof and leering down at the smaller male, "Where'd you get this one, out of Ringling Brothers?"

"Shut up, Brandt." Roddy said bluntly, "At least my car's decent looking compared to your flashy little status symbol!" Sterling's cohorts then oooh'd, which caused the man to raise his hand and silence them.

"At least my car doesn't look like a joke car they bring out to make the other cars look better!" Sterling hissed, turning around and smiling smugly as if he had made a great comeback.

"That may be true!" Roddy yelled, as Lewis held his shoulder back, "but mine and _definitely go faster than yours!_ ". The crowd seemed to gasp and make a circle around the two as Sterling turned around and, not taking Roddy seriously, walked towards him, tongue firmly pushed in his cheek.

"...You what now?" Sterling purred, flashing a joking smirk, "You're kidding right? Your little clown car can't beat my ultimate speed machine."

"I bet you it can and it will, any time, any day!" Roddy screamed back.

"Yeah, and look good while doing it too!" Lewis added, realizing the damage his words was causing. Sterling couldn't believe what he was hearing, while Haruka looked genuinely nervous, locking eyes with Lewis. Lewis nodded and tried to assure her with a look that said, "It's ok.", but wasn't sure if he did it right.

"You know what?" Sterling said quietly, turning back to face Herbie as he leaned in dangerously close to Roddy, "You put your money where your mouth is, little man. You, me, tomorrow at Jackrabbit Springs, sundown. You be there or I'll come after you and wreck this little doodle-bug myse-!"

In a flash, Herbie's driver-side door suddenly whipped open and smacked Sterling right in his chest and throat. The entire show went quiet, only Herbie's engine purred as the little car shut his door on its own. Roddy, Lewis and Haruka were all left scared as Sterling rubbed his throat and coughed, stumbling upwards and grabbing onto one of his friends as support. He had a vindictive look on his face, one that Roddy recognized as a face looking for blood.

"That's it…" Sterling said in a hoarse voice, "Tomorrow night, this same parking lot. We'll race, just mano-a-mano. You be there... " he coughed suddenly, clutching his throat again, "Or you'll get it from me and my crew…"

"Y-you got a deal." Roddy said quickly, as Herbie rolled his window up suddenly and jerked away out of the parking lot, revving away from sight. Haruka cautiously looked at Sterling as her boyfriend stumbled towards her, grabbing her roughly by the arm in support and catching his breath.

"Haruka…" He said slyly, "Have my car prepared for tomorrow… I'm planning to put a BUG ZAPPER ON IT!" He then pushed Haruka out of the way as the cocky man was surrounded by more and more of his cheering brothers in cars, causing the girl to fall over onto her own Suzuki Hayabusa motorbike. She grimaced and rubbed her arm from where he grabbed her, picking up her red and black streamlined motorbike as the loud music of the car show began again and the tense emotions all faded away into dull, vulgar camaraderie. Haruka then looked out towards the departing Volkswagen's direction and sighed.

"Prep your own car, _bakayarou…_ " She muttered, before Sterling called her name again and Haruka was forced to part with her two-wheeled companion.


	7. Nothing to Lose

Herbie rolled into the Mission St. garage's lot just as the last of Wilson's daily customers had gone. Wilson himself was watching an old woman drive off in a Lincoln Town Car before he saw Lewis and Roddy roll up into an empty garage stall. Jackson emerged from under the Elan, once again filthy and covered in oil as he approached the group. Roddy and Lewis' sullen looks, however, caught both men off-guard and Wilson got some cheer-up coffees and hot chocolates for them, asking what had happened.

"Did Herbie drive just fine?" He prodded, grabbing a chair and sitting down.

"Oh, he does." Roddy nodded as he stood through Herbie's sunroof, his elbows resting depressedly atop the car's windshield.

"So spill the beans," Jackson edged, pointing a monkey wrench at Lewis, "Why're you two so down?"

"It was Sterling Brandt again." Lewis admitted, sighing, "We encountered him and Haruka over at a local impromptu car show and… we were challenged to a race."

"An illegal street race?" Wilson asked, suddenly sounding serious as he got up and looked at Roddy, "And did you refuse?"

"No…" Roddy grunted, rubbing his head, "My… I don't know what to call it, came up again and I accepted his challenge. We're racing tonight." Wilson groaned as he ran his hands through his long black hair, thinking hard.

"What'll I tell your parents if something happens to you?" He said, looking up to Roddy again, "You really think they'd approve of you doing this?"

"Of course they wouldn't," Roddy said back, "But here I am. I made a mistake and I have nothing to lose now but…" He then patted Herbie's roof, which elicited a bleary beep from the car.

"Why don't we just go as support?" Jackson said, looking to Wilson, "We could make sure Roddy stays safe with Forrest. I mean, it's not like he has to be there alone. Right?" Wilson pondered for a bit more, looking into the innocent yet troubled faces of his son and friends. None of them seemed to have faith in themselves for this, so something had to be done to instill such faith. That was when he snapped his fingers.

"Support's a brilliant idea!" Wilson said, clapping his hands together, "And Roddy has nothing to worry about anyway!"

"Why's that, dad?" Lewis asked, perking up from leaning on Herbie's side.

"Why, we have a race car of course!" Wilson grinned, "A fully-fledged and tested one too! That's something we have over Sterling Brandt's car!"

"But what if Sterling's got some dirty tricks up his sleeves?" Jackson wondered, playing with his Land Rover's keys idly. This caused Roddy's eyes to grow wide in realization.

"Then we'll play dirty too, damn it!" Roddy grinned, meeting Wilson and Lewis' excited gazes, "If he's gonna play rough, I bet this little car here's got some tricks to outsmart that ricer-head!"

"Yeah!" Lewis exclaimed, pounding his fist into his paw, "We'll show those idiots who we are!"

"And who exactly are we?" Jackson asked innocently. This caused the other three to quiet down and think, until Roddy had the answer.

"How about Team Douglas?" Roddy suggested, patting Herbie's windshield as the bug began to tremble under him, "We'll just continue whatever he did in racing Herbie to victory."

"Doesn't sound bad at all." Wilson said as he nodded, "Alright Team Douglas, let's get to work!"

"Yeah!" Came the resounding reply as tools were gathered into boxes and stuffed into the back of Jackson's Land Rover. With a top-off of gasoline and a check of tire pressure and engine components, Herbie and Forrest revved off to face their challenge.

At the parking lot, Sterling Brandt was looking at his watch while waiting aggravatedly for Roddy to show up. His watch read out "12:00 AM", and Sterling sighed, his impatience growing by each tick of the second hand. His other cohorts were busy milling about, discussing their car plans and showing off their newest features. Haruka, meanwhile, stood off to his side like an unwilling lapdog, keeping her eyes focused on anything but Sterling's face. Sterling noticed this, and very gently ran his hand along Haruka's head. This jerked her out of her daydreaming, but she maintained her emotionless composure as Sterling spoke to her.

"Worried about me tonight, _mon cher_?" Sterling cooed, turning Haruka to face him. Her eyes darted towards his for a moment before looked away.

"As always, my love." She replied, lying through her teeth but sounding as sincere as she could. This pleased Sterling as he continued speaking.

"Don't worry about me," He said, flexing his toned arms to impress her, "Your precious Sterling Silver'll show that annoying little runt his place…" He then leaned in close to Haruka, whispering in her ear, "And maybe even impress you as my trophy girl."

"I thought I already was your 'trophy girl'" Haruka replied, folding her arms and looking away again. Sterling interpreted this as Haruka being cold, so he offered her his bazer for warmth.

"No thanks," came the reply through gritted teeth, though Sterling could neither hear nor see it as one of his cohorts came running up to him.

"Boss, boss!" came the man, running up in a blue New York Yankee's shirt and matching baseball cap, "That bug's comin' up the road!"

"About time!" Sterling called out, as he slipped on his racing gloves from his pocket, "I've been waiting to get some kraut in my teeth. Dirk, get the others. I prefer having the others watch."

"O-of course, boss!" Dirk responded quickly as he ran over to his bright-orange Ford Mustang and gave its horn a honk, signalling others of the impending race.

A few seconds later, Herbie and Forrest rolled up beside Sterling's Infiniti and came to a stop in the parking lot. Roddy sat in Herbie, alone, while Lewis, Jackson and Wilson sat in the Land Rover, watching the proceedings from a safe distance. Sterling's cohorts, including Red and Dirk, stepped closer to form a circle around the two drivers. As Roddy stepped out of the car, Sterling found that he was dressed in his blue racing helmet, a white button-up polo shirt and black skinny jeans with black loafers. Sterling, meanwhile, was without his Armani blazer, instead co-opting for a tight black v-neck tee that accentuated his physique and made him far larger and more intimidating than before. The two drivers stepped up to each other, with Sterling looking down at the smaller Roddy, as they tried to psyche each other out. Sterling then held out his hand, smirking cockily.

"I'm glad to see you made it, G-bomb." He sneered, "Why don't we shake hands, in respect of the sport?"

"I'd rather dip my arm in a vat of acid; than play your little game." Roddy growled, clenching his gloved fist. The other cohorts oohed and gasped, until Sterling held up his hand.

"Fine." He said, rather tersely, "Let's not waste anymore time, shall we? We all know how this is going to end anyway. However, as this is the second time you're facing me, I'll let you off lightly." Sterling then leaned over Roddy, looming over him as his dark face was barely illuminated by the parking lot lights, and said, "If I win, you can keep your stupid little rustbucket and merely go home filled with shame."

"And what if I win?" Roddy responded, his voice wavering a little. Sterling chuckled darkly, standing up straight again.

"Let's cross that bridge when we get there," He replied ominously, before breaking down the rules, "We'll be racing to the corner of Colorado and Lake; from there, we'll go up Lake to the end of its road at the houses at the foot of the mountain. We'll then turn around and race back here, simple as that." Sterling then leaned down until his face was level with Roddy's, grinning like a mad Cheshire cat as he whipped his aviators off and asked, "Savvy?"

"Crystal." Came Roddy's blunt reply. The two males gave themselves one final staredown before parting and climbing into their vehicles.

Sterling was the first to start up, flipping every switch he had on his Infiniti to activate the nitrous control, ground lights, wheel lights, electrical system, and finally, the engine, which emitted a loud, booming roar similar to that of an angry tiger. The Infiniti's engine rumbled as it warmed up, Sterling making a show as he moved out of the parking lot and onto the adjacent street. A chalk line had been drawn up going from one side or the other before Roddy arrived, so Sterling lined up and fixed his hair in his rearview mirror, giving Roddy a disturbing leer. The younger, smaller male was not as intimated though, as he fired up Herbie's engine. The other tuner car owners laughed and mocked Herbie's little wimpy sound, but both he and Roddy knew they'd be eating their words just yet. Herbie then moved up to the start line level with the Infiniti and waited. The crowd moved to parallel the road, as Haruka stayed behind to watch from a distance. Lewis couldn't help but look at her worried expression and feel worried for her the same, but his attention was needed elsewhere.

Meanwhile, Red quickly grabbed an American flag off a house up the block and ran back to the group, holding it high above his skinny head. Roddy and Sterling's eyes followed the flag, just waiting for the drop. Lewis and Haruka both held their breath as Jackson and Wilson watched in anticipation. With a sudden motion, Red suddenly dropped the flag and let out a blood-curdling yell out of nowhere. This spooked Roddy to bits as Sterling got the drop on him and accelerated quickly out of the startline. The smaller male growled and put Herbie into gear, the Beetle starting right up and accelerating away like a bullet train.

"There he goes…" Jackson stated.

"I hope he's going to be fine…" Wilson added.

"Agreed…" Lewis said, looking once again to Haruka as their eyes met and a singular thought entered their head: "Sterling can't win."

Sterling and Roddy were blasting down the street as fast as their wheels could carry them, nearly going neck and neck as Herbie began to catch up with the shining Infiniti. Sterling was quite surprised the little Beetle could keep up with his off-the-charts tuner car, but didn't think much of it as he suddenly braked hard while approaching an intersection. Roddy was a little late on his brake response time as Sterling yanked the handbrake in his car, sending the Infiniti into a controlled drift around the corner and shooting down Colorado Boulevard faster than ever. As Roddy watched Sterling drive off, Herbie decided to take control and suddenly swerved into the opposite lane, causing Roddy to smack into the left side windows as the bug chased after his opponent with determination burning in his pistons.

"Whoa, warn me next time!" Roddy grunted as he rubbed his face, right before he realized where he once was and took control of Herbie again. Herbie growled aggressively as he swerved up the empty street, the little old Bug still unused to racing after remaining dormant for a long time. The duo was soon catching up with Sterling as Lake Avenue soon came into view. The Infiniti driver saw the little Beetle speeding up and grinned as he yanked the handbrake and zoomed north on Lake. Herbie growled as Roddy was pushed back into his seat by an extra burst of power, the Beetle deciding to take an alternate route across the sidewalk and under a shop entrance, taking out a plastic newspaper dispenser in the process.

"Come on Herbie!" Roddy yelled over the din of Herbie's rumbling engine as they roared over the 210 freeway. "Let's show that blowhard what a real racecar can do!"

Herbie beeped in reply and suddenly let off another wheelie, zooming down the road and steadily catching up to Sterling's Infiniti rather quickly until both were level and speeding down Lake Avenue at over 100 miles per hour. Sterling was confused, asking himself how in the hell a clapped-out old car was managing to keep up with his solidly-built discoteque of a vehicle. Roddy meanwhile chewed on his cheek in concentration, then turned to give Sterling a little wave as Herbie suddenly shot forward and crested over a softly-inclined intersection, bouncing as he hit the ground. Sterling growled and pushed another button on his Infiniti to catch up. In an instant, the nitrous tank by the rear windshield hissed as blue flames roared out of his car's exhaust pipe. The Infiniti rocketed forward suddenly as the race soon hit the suburban section of the race climbing up the side of the San Gabriel Mountains.

Big four-lane thoroughfares soon gave way to small two-lane roads, and Herbie had no difficulty navigating the streets as nimbly as he could. All the while, the bug would regularly communicate with Roddy via his controls, teaching the young driver the nuances of his gearbox and handling. Roddy was quick to pick up and soon, he was driving Herbie himself as they reached the end of Lake Avenue.

"Let's try something out, Herb." Roddy said as he tugged on the bug's handbrake. Herbie could sense what his owner was trying to do, going into a left-hand controlled skid to turn around. Roddy could feel Herbie's back end swinging out more than usual, slowing him down as the driver applied more gas to compensate. As soon as they were the right way around, however, they were suddenly frightened as Sterling streaked by them on an intersection, causing Herbie to squeal to a stop as both tried to catch their breath. This gave Sterling a chance to get an advantage as he made a sharp, squealing J-turn and roared back down the hill. Herbie growled as he was passed and reversed onto Lake again, squealing his tires as he chased after Sterling.

Near the bottom of the hill, the two were now neck and neck, as Herbie was aided by their tricky downhill driving. Sterling growled, still not believing Roddy was properly racing him and decided it was time to play dirty. As they both rushed over the 210 again, and were just about to turn onto Colorado, Sterling gave a light tap to Herbie's rear fender as the cars rounded the curve. This caused Herbie to immediately start spinning uncontrollably, but the bug managed to correct himself by racing in reverse. Roddy screamed as he looked at the rear facing forward, watching as Herbie easily passed Sterling again and managed to spin himself back forward as they turned onto the road to the parking lot. The Infiniti's driver was left stunned as Herbie crossed the finish line first, causing his cohorts to be quiet in shock as Jackson, Lewis and Wilson cheered from inside the Land Rover. Haruka smiled sweetly, happy to see Roddy had won as Herbie revved over to Wilson and the others, purring happily as Roddy hugged all of them victoriously. Sterling, however, was left catatonic as his Infiniti limped across the start line slowly, black smoke emitting from his exhaust pipe as the charismatic and cocky leader now exited his car quietly, looking at his cohorts as he pointed over to the celebrating group.

"...D'you see that!?" He managed to yelp, before looking again to find Haruka smiling with Lewis, their hands clasped together. Sterling could feel his countenance worsen, shock and disbelief were soon replaced by jealousy and vengeance.

"Boss…?" Dirk wondered, approaching him cautiously as Sterling's fists clenched. Suddenly the man smacked Dirk violently onto the ground, two of his other cohorts coming to the man's aid as Sterling pointed a finger at Herbie.

"I want that car... " He growled, "Gone before it can mock me again…" Sterling then rubbed his still-scarred lip as he called out, "HARUKA!"

"Oh no…" She suddenly said, letting go of Lewis suddenly, "I-I have to go…"

"Oh, I understand." Lewis responded, a little downtrodden, "But you'll still call, right?"

"Of course!" Haruka said as she pressed her hand to Lewis's chest before walking away quickly to Sterling's side, nervously anticipating what he'd do to her. Sterling simply just shoved Haruka into his Infiniti and shut the door, driving away loudly as his other cohorts left without another word, leaving Herbie's standing there, confused but still pleased with themselves as they too broke off and left for home.


	8. A Shadowy Rider

The next morning, Roddy woke up on his bed again in a dizzying blur. What the heck happened last night, he asked himself as he slowly got up and stretched, feeling rather stiff. Going to his bedroom window to let some light in, Roddy was surprised to find Herbie parked outside, with both his parents looking at the car. Feeling nervous, he quickly got some flannel pajama pants on and walked outside in flip-flops. Maya heard him and gave him a big hug at first, while Rodolfo looked down at the car's engine bay, seemingly impressed.

"Is this your new car, son?" Maya asked, trying not to sound too judgemental for him, "How much was it?"

"This is my new car, mom." Roddy responded, yawning, "And it cost me $200 from a junkyard."

"And is it safe?" Maya continued asking, "Since you know, I'm worried about your safety."

"It's safe, mom, I assure you." Roddy smiled as he hugged his mom again, "I'll be fine with it." Maya sighed in relief, pressing her hand to Roddy's chest.

"Ok," she said, nodding as she looked up at her taller son, "I trust you and will give you some money to get him titled and registered. After that, I need you to run some deliveries, ok?"

"Ok, mom." Roddy nodded and kissed his mom on the cheek as his family went back inside.

The rest of the early morning was spent at the Department of Motor Vehicles, then afterwards Herbie was used to run some deliveries out to some customers around the neighborhood. As Roddy continued his deliveries that day, he did notice something off about Herbie. Whenever his old Del Sol used to go around a corner, stuff would slide everywhere and food would get spilled, or worse; now, however, whenever Herbie would corner, the food would remain still in place and nothing would get spilled. Roddy thought that this was a useful feature as he soon arrived at his delivery destination, a large gated mansion around old Pasadena with a couple cars parked outside the house. Roddy rang the gate's doorbell and stood back, as a deep, rich baritone voice broke through.

"Hello, who is it?" came the voice through the speaker.

"I got a delivery!" Roddy responded, looking at the receipt slip, "One _pancit_ with beef tapa for a Ms... Delia Cruz?"

"Oh, that's for my cleaning lady!" The voice said, "Stand back, I'll let you in!"

"Thank you!" Roddy said and stood back from the gate as it opened up. As it did though, Roddy soon found out who owned the house by the sight of a familiar shining-silver Infiniti sitting in front one of the garage doors. He could feel his blood run cold as Roddy said to himself, "Oh no… It's Sterling's house." It took a little nudge from Herbie's bumper to shake him out of his nervous daydreaming as Roddy walked up to the front door, Herbie following onto the driveway. With a knock on the door, a tall, slender man with a nicely-chiseled jawline and a moustache answered the door, dressed in an immaculate suit.

"Why hello there!" He said jovially, "I suppose you're for my cleaning lady?"

"Yes sir," said Roddy, handing over the receipt, "Here's the total and here's the food." He then offered the bag to the man, asking as he looked to the garage's modest collection of cars, "Mind if I ask who you are?"

"Why…" The man said, digging into his pockets for some money, "I'm Morrison Brandt, owner of Brandt Luxury Autos. Don't mind the silver sports car outside, that belongs to my son."

"Uh-huh," Roddy replied tersely as the money was handed to him, "I know him too well."

"That's an interesting little car you have out there, though." Morrison said, ignoring Roddy's response as he set the food down in the dining room. The man then stepped outside past Roddy to get a good look at Herbie, commenting, "Interesting racing colors too. Anything custom on it?"

"Not that I know of," Roddy replied as he followed Morrison, "apart from the rollbar. Why do you ask?"

"Ah, now, well," Morrison began, "My dealership sponsors these sports car days out on many of the local racetracks around here and we have one coming up at Laguna Seca this weekend for two days. I'd be delighted if you can bring your little Volkswagen along, it'd help lighten up the grid and give everyone something to look at." Roddy blushed, feeling honored that Sterling's dad would invite him to Laguna Seca, a very prestigious racetrack that ranked higher than Jackrabbit Springs for any decent driver.

"I'd be honored, sir!" Roddy exclaimed, "I'll be sure to show up!"

"Perfect!" Morrison beamed, patting Roddy on the shoulder before walking away, "I expect to see you there!" As he crossed the threshold of his house, Sterling was just coming down the stairs, dressed in a tank-top and boxers, yawning tiredly.

"Who was that, dad…?" He grunted, looking out to the open front door as he brushed his unkempt hair from his eyes.

"Oh, just a delivery for our housekeeper," Morrison nodded, calling for her right that second.

"Delivery…?" Sterling yawned as he approached the front door, only to find Herbie driving away out of the driveway and onto the street. His eyes bugged, memories of last night flooding him and seeing that accursed bug showboating him _and_ beating him. Sterling's mind could still not get over the fact that on paper, every single thing his car could do better, an unmodified little bug was somehow doing it better than him. Sterling calmly closed the door and went upstairs to his lavish bedroom, emitting a loudly-growing, rage-filled growl as he suddenly grabbed his xBox controller and hurled it at the wall, shattering it. Grabbing his iPhone and dialing a familiar number, the angry male pulled at his hair as he was soon greeted by a posh-sounding voice.

"Brandt Luxury Automotive, garage." Came the voice as casually as it could.

"Get me the entire damn crew," Sterling growled, looking at his dark reflection in the mirror as he smiled, "We've got something to do."

Back at the Mission St. Garage, Herbie was parked outside on the main lot as Roddy was in the garage, helping Jackson and Lewis to lift out the Lotus' engine. Roddy had told them about Morrison Brandy inviting him to race at Laguna Seca, which was met with raucous cheers and the need to get the Elan finished by that weekend for the race. Herbie, meanwhile, felt bored as he watched the three males working on the little sportscar. The garage was quiet at noontime as well, with one or two people coming in for oil changes or tire rotations. Getting his own ideas, the little car started up his engine and rolled out towards the garage's access door to the waiting room. Wilson was just exiting with some parts forms in hand when he suddenly was startled by the little car standing there, idling quietly and seemingly looking up at him in expectation.

"Uh, hi Herbie." Wilson said, patting the Bug on his hood and trying to push him away, "I'm kinda busy right now, so I have to go handle this."

Herbie seemed to understand as he rolled away from Wilson, who returned to walking into his backroom. The bug seemed indignant to find something to do and decided to go examine Pegasus, who was parked up next the garage where the three others were working. The little car gingerly approached the Impala and gave its side a little tap with his bumper, backing away quickly and raising his rear end up for a response. After a few minutes, Herbie let out a quizzical bleat on his horn, approaching the Impala again, then backing away like an excitable little puppy. Again, Pegasus offered no response, so Herbie frowned internally and returned to his parking spot, deciding to take a nap if he was going to be lazy all day. Meanwhile, Jackson and Lewis had been watching the odd display as Roddy was below the Elan's chassis, inspecting the many tubes and lines.

"Your car's weird, dude." Jackson commented, a half-empty can of Monster in his hand.

"I don't know what he was trying to do to Pegasus," said Lewis, pausing for a sip of coffee before he continued, "Courting Pegasus, maybe?"

"Maybe." Jackson replied, sipping his drink again.

"You never know with cars like that!" Roddy called out from under the Elan, then offered out his hand and said, "Can someone get me an 11-mil wrench?"

The next few days seemed to go by as normal, with Roddy making his food deliveries in Herbie as Jackson and Lewis finished working on the little Lotus Elan. The mere thought of beating Sterling Brandt was far from their minds as on Friday, Herbie, Forrest and the Elan drove out to Malibu one evening to test the sports car's performance mods. The night was warm, enough to go without a jacket on as the group stopped at a local restaurant called Lily's to fill up before they went on a test run. Lewis, Jackson and Roddy sat in their own booth with the window facing their cars as they waited on some service, idly chatting to pass the time.

"So what're you looking to get?" Roddy nodded, slipping his glasses off and chewing idly on the ear pieces.

"I don't know," Lewis grinned, looking at Roddy cheekily, "Maybe _un cafe?_ " An eyeroll from the smaller male made him giggle incessantly as he regained composure, "Nah, I think I'll have some fish tacos. What about you, Jackson?"

"Bwekfust" Jackson uttered as he flopped face-first onto the table. Lewis and Roddy gave the afro-topped male a momentary glance before returning to normal.

"I think I'll have the fish tacos too." Roddy nodded, putting his menu down and calling for the waiter. A few moments later, a green-haired male exited the kitchen and strode over, wearing a black vest and slacks and white shirt, topped off with a green bowtie. When Roddy saw him, he immediately put his glasses back on and made sure not to look at the man, but just keep him in his field of view, blushing heavily from how attractive their waiter looked, especially with that bowtie and those sparkling emerald eyes.

"What can I get you boys?" He asked in a gentle tenor voice. Lewis saw Roddy instantly blush when he saw the waiter and grinned internally before giving the orders.

"Two fish tacos and a breakfast burrito, please." He reported, "As well as a lemonade, a coffee and Sprite."

"You got it." The waiter smiled before he walked back to the kitchen and Lewis turned to Roddy, grinning and leaning in close to rub the embarrassed male's obvious infatuation in.

"So…" He purred, giggling, "What was his name~?"

"Dent…" Roddy muttered.

"Wait what?" Lewis asked, looking back to their green-haired waiter.

"I guess it's his last name." Roddy continued, "Said it on his name tag. Still odd though."

The three soon received their foods and tucked in, coming out of the restaurant 30 minutes later as they rubbed their full stomachs and leaned against their cars. Roddy couldn't help but look back at "Dent" as they left Lily's, to which Lewis hooked him by the collar and leaned Roddy against Herbie's side to catch his breath. The bug let out a "beep" from the gentle impact and opened his door for Roddy, who climbed inside. All three let out a groan as they sat in their cars, looking towards each other.

"I think we ate too much…" Roddy grunted, to which Lewis and Jackson nodded.

"We're never eating here again…" Lewis added, letting out a large burp.

"Hey!' Jackson grunted as he started Forrest's engine, "I love this restaurant!"

"Fine, _you_ can eat here again." Roddy grunted as Herbie started on his own, calling out, "Let's get this test done!"

The trio eventually drove over to the western end of Kanan Dume road, an important through-mountain thoroughfare that took drivers from the beaches to the 101 freeway through the Zuma and Trancas canyons. Herbie was the first to turn onto Kanan Dume, revving his plucky flat-four as he accelerated up the hill. The Elan was next, Lewis shifting the little coupe into a hill-climbing gear as he shot upwards after Herbie. Jackson was the last one up the hilly road, keeping an eye out for any California Highway Patrol cars springing a speed-trap on them. The two little race-cars edged themselves up the steep uphill grade, racing side-by-side at a decent clip before Lewis decided to take it up a notch and downshifted, making the Elan's little engine sing as he drew ahead. Herbie revved his engine too and matched the Elan, the two going side-by-side as they drove deeper into Zuma Canyon.

However, unbeknownst to them, a shadowy figure was chasing after them on a red and black Suzuki Hayabusa sportbike. The Rider had seen them last at Lily's where they had seen the group walking out and leaving the restaurant, and was now chasing them up Kanan Dume to get a better look at them. With a squeal of their motorcycle's engine, the streamlined sportbike shot up past Jackson and gave him a fright, making him honk Forrest's horn in response. Lewis and Roddy looked behind them to find the Hayabusa shooting past them, the bike leaning into a tight curve as it roared into a tunnel. Roddy and Lewis looked at each other before Lewis turned on Eurobeat music on his radio and the two classic cars chased after the motorcycle.

"Who in the hell does this rider think he is?" Roddy grunted as he chewed on his cheek again, letting Herbie handle the shifting as he chased after the Rider, roaring into the tunnel and hugging every corner as tightly as he could as the little Beetle caught up to the sportbike.

Its rider looked back momentarily before flames spat out of the Hayabusa's rear end, red streaks seemingly emitting from the tail-lights as they rocketed ahead and leaned into a tight corner. Roddy, sensing the corner's tightness, decided to try his hand at drifting again and pivoted his right foot so that his heel touched the gas and his toes touched the brake. Pulling on the handbrake as he went into the corner, Roddy hung tightly to the Bug's wheel as Herbie's rear end swung out; the tires squealed in protest and the suspension dug in as Roddy looked out at the darkened canyon bottom not even a few meters from their position. Coming out the curve, Herbie slowly made his way towards the rider. A tight right-hand hairpin curve lay right ahead, with a guardrail protecting its canyon-facing side from any drivers falling off the steeply-banked curve. The Rider gritted their teeth and braked early, preparing to slide around the curve to lose their opponent. Herbie, however, had other ideas.

"What're you doing, Herbie?!" Roddy grunted as he felt the bug's wheel jerk right, heading right for the guardrail, "You're gonna get us killed!" Tried as he could to jerk the wheel back, Herbie took no need of his driver's actions and advanced, having his own ideas on how to pass the Rider.

Roddy then braced as the Rider swung their rear around to slide through the corner, their own thin tire squealing on the old asphalt road. Suddenly, from behind her, a banging noise came as Herbie suddenly jumped and did a 90-degree turn onto the guardrail at high speed, sparks flying as the Beetle literally rail-slid past her and exited the curve with all four tires squealing as they hit asphalt. Inside Roddy screamed and braced as he felt the Beetle leap, then slam down onto the railing, feeling dizzy before realizing he was looking right down at the canyon below. Holding onto Herbie's rollbar, Roddy continued screaming as Herbie swung himself off the guardrail and squealed back onto the road, zipping past the Hayabusa and drawing ahead. The Rider was left stunned as she slowed down for a moment before accelerating again, cresting the hill to find Herbie pulled-over at an intersection a few meters away. Roddy was outside, clutching the bug's roof as his kneels buckled and trembled, his chest pounding after experiencing such a shocking move by his car. The Rider pulled up alongside and nodded their helmeted head, to which Roddy responded with a gulp as he weakly held up a thumbs up.

"G-good race!" He said, before slumping back down onto Herbie's seat. The Rider nodded and revved their sport bike's engine loudly again before accelerating off in a light squeal of tire smoke. Jackson and Lewis caught up a few moments later as Forrest and the Elan pulled up behind him, asking the bugged-out male what happened back there. All Roddy could say in response was, "That rider… could frickin' ride." Lewis and Jackson looked at each other in awe, then down the road the Rider had left, wondering who that mad motorcyclist was in the first place. Herbie meanwhile idled happily, proud of his racing moves and knowing that inside, he still had it.


	9. All's Fair in Love

"What do you mean there's nothing special about that little car!?" Sterling fumed as he faced his garage director that very same night, hands clutching the table in restrained rage as a vein almost popped on his forehead, "I've seen what that thing can do, and it's damn near impossible for any car of its own caliber to do something like that!"

"I-I don't know what to say, sir!" The garage's assistant manager, a young twenty-something with big, opaque glasses and a blonde mop of hair, replied as he cowered in fear, "We've procured a model similar to the car in question and have analyzed its performance from your dashcam, but we haven't been able to replicate the results!"

"LIES!" Sterling shouted as he shoved the table aside and approached the manager, stabbing his finger into his thin chest, "You give me whatever it takes to beat that annoying little cretin and his machine, or so help me I will tie you to the back of my sports car and swing you around Mulholland Drive!"

"Y-yes sir!" The manager stammered, his lips trembling as Sterling gave him one more hard stare, sending more fear through the young man. Sterling then spun on his heel and entered the almost clinically-clean garage. Around him, expensive cars of almost every model lay in various states of repair with not a single scratch or tire mark on the white tile floor. The entire garage could be compared not-incorrectly to a hospital, as wires and cables connected every car being worked on to its own computer, making it easy for the mechanics to find out what was wrong. However, far from all the futuristic equipment, Sterling had his eye on the dark blue Volkswagen Beetle sitting far in a shadowy corner of the garage. The little car looked exactly like Herbie in every way apart from the color, but now it stood destitute compared to its other garage mates.

The little Beetle's fenders had all been removed, while its engine was mounted on a stand and connected with wires to another computer. Its tires stood on a stack nearby, while metal analyzing devices and gadgets similar to that were laid out on a table, having been used all over the car. Sterling himself had bought the car through a local junkyard on such extremely short notice, under the express purpose of finding out what was made Herbie tick, but couldn't find anything. The engine, the shocks, the wheels and the general layout of the car remained the same, so how could a little four-cylinder engine beat his performance-tuned V6? On paper, it should have made sense that Roddy Gomez should have been thoroughly trounced to next Tuesday, but that wasn't the case after all. Sterling growled as he approached the poor little car and gave it a hard, angry kick on its rear fender, leaving a deep dent along its worn, curved form. An angry stream of expletives erupted from his mouth, all directed at the car before he realized something and stopped before he could lay another kick on the innocent vehicle.. Whipping out his phone, Sterling dialed a number and pressed "call."

"Ricky!" He said, his demeanour turning from angry to sociable in an uncanny speed, "It's Sterling Brandt, Morrison's son." A pause, then he continued, "Yes, yes, I'm ok right now. Anyway, do you have that GTR still in the garage?" Another pause, then, "Yes, the racecar." His face fell slightly as he responded with an "oh…"; but suddenly lifted again as Sterling said, "Awesome, I'll need it for tomorrow. Can you ship it up to Laguna Seca tonight?" One final pause passed as Sterling nodded his head, finishing with, "Alright, I'll see you tomorrow." He then closed his phone as the lean-jawed man looked at the Volkswagen in pieces, grinning that familiar Cheshire cat-grin again as he pressed his hands together. "Soon, Gomez," he muttered, disdain dripping with every syllable, "Soon, you'll pay…".

Early the next morning, Roddy and his friends were preparing to head out to Laguna Seca. The Elan, after getting a new coat of polish, was loaded onto the Radinsky's Freightliner flatbed and covered with a tarp, while Herbie was loaded onto a trailer attached behind Forrest. Lewis and Roddy were riding in Pegasus again, who was packed to the gills with clothes, food, and other supplies needed for the long journey ahead. The little bug was insistent on not going on a trailer, but was soon coerced by Roddy telling him that Herbie needed to be in peak physical condition for the race. Like the Elan, Herbie was soon covered by a tarp, but his headlights were left uncovered so the bug could see. When the garage's clock tower rang six in the morning, the group left the mist-overcast streets of Pasadena and headed out on the open road.

This was a new experience for Herbie, who enjoyed riding on his comfortable trailer, enjoying the golden-yellow expanses of the Central Valley as the motley cavalcade headed north. In the past, the little car had to drive himself to his races and back, causing him some minor exhaustion before he could even race; but now, he was able to rest before hand and just have some quiet time to himself. The drive was mostly uneventful, save for Jackson accidently locking his keys in Forrest at a Fresno gas station. This earned a laughing series of beeps from Herbie, which Jackson mournfully begged to stop as the others joined in.

When the crew arrived at Laguna Seca, their jaws dropped as they were witness to the largest variety of sports cars they had ever seen. Everywhere they looked, the marques caught their eyes like flies to honey: Ferrari, Porsche, Lamborghini, De Tomaso, Nissan, Lancia. Their minds boggled at the sight of so many classic and new cars around them, so they tried not to be distracted as Herbie and the Elan were rolled off the trailers and pushed into the pits. Roddy himself was busy looking around for Morrison Brandt as he walked right next to Herbie, the little car idling gently as he parked himself into a spot right next to an old, blue Chevrolet Corvette coupe. Lewis parked right across from him as the Corvette's driver, a blond man in aviators that resembled the stereotype of a 'surfer dude', noticed Herbie and whistled.

"Primo bug there dude," He drawled in an unmistakable Valley accent, "Whatcha runnin'?"

"Oh, this?" Roddy said, getting up from Herbie's other side and giving the bug a wipe-down with a rag, "Ordinary VW engine."

"Oooh, wow." The man commented, leaning on his Corvette as he chuckled slightly, "Best not get left in the dust then, not at this place!"

"Indeed not." Came a sly voice from behind Roddy. As Wilson and Jackson arrived, both Roddy and Lewis looked back to find Sterling Brandt walking up the pits, Dirk and Red flanking his sides like two guard dogs. The Eastern European cocked his head up, looking at Roddy through his sunglasses and then to Lewis as he took in the sight of the both of them. Disgust ran thick in his voice as he then said, "So, you made it, huh?"

"Yeah, of course we did." Lewis said, leaning over the Elan's rear as Wilson got to work checking the engine out. Jackson, meanwhile, helped Roddy with Herbie's tire pressure as Lewis continued, "Why wouldn't we?"

"Because my dad's an idiot to invite you losers over, of course." Sterling spat out, then literally spitting on the pit lane as he said, "You two better stay out of my way today, I want to look good for Haruka~." He then whipped out a switchblade-style comb, running it through his finely coiffed hair, as if to accentuate his attractiveness.

"Fine, fine." Roddy nodded, waving Sterling away, "We won't make you lose too badly, won't we Herbie?"

"Herbie?" Sterling chortled mockingly, "The thing has a name?"

"Of course!" Roddy replied, smiling innocently as Herbie wiggled in place a little, "If you like your car, wouldn't you give it a name?"

"Obviously," Sterling said, waving his hand in the air dismissively, "Mine's called the "Bug Swatter.""

"That name sucks, dude!" Jackson called out from behind Herbie as he checked the Beetle's oil.

"You can say that now, but watch what happens when I take both of you out on the track with my car!" Sterling growled, turning heel and walking away as Red and Dirk both followed quickly.

"As if…" Lewis and Roddy both thought as they returned to prepping their cars.

An hour later, just as Lewis made his final checks on the Elan and signed in for a later heat, he had ambled over to the concession stand to get himself a coffee. As he took his hot cup and began to pour some hazelnut creamer over it, Lewis suddenly heard a couple voices coming from behind him and by the porto-potties. Creeping over as quietly as he could over the noise of the sports cars revving and zooming by around him, he managed to spy Haruka and Sterling from afar, apparently in the middle of an argument. Haruka's face was flushed red with rage, as her tears being consciously held back. Sterling, meanwhile, had his arms crossed and was purposefully avoiding eye contact with her, looking as if he wasn't listening. Through the noise of the cars and the crowds, Lewis sipped on his coffee unseen as he managed to listen in.

"...And you never seem to listen to me at all!" Haruka bellowed loudly, holding her hand to her face as she stood her ground, "What makes you think that I'm nothing but just your trophy!"

"But you aren't a trophy, my sweet," Sterling reasoned as he reached for her free hand, only getting a hard slap on his wrist in response, "I'm just trying to make sure you have the best life that you deserve." Sterling then shook his hand, looking curiously at Haruka as she frowned at him.

"Being unnecessarily cruel to other people around you isn't the life I want to lead, Sterling!" Haruka spat back, beginning to lose her composure as she trembled violently, looking down at the ground as the tears started to flow, screaming, "I can't keep up this life anymore!"

"Haruka." Sterling said, all warmth in his voice gone as he picked her head up by the chin and directed her gaze into his, "If you leave me now, I can assure you that nobody else out there can help you. My business with collapse without you, and so surely will my father's."

"Is that all I am to you then?!" She shouted, some people beginning to take notice to the argument as Lewis gripped his coffee tightly, "Am I just a cheap business tactic?! You think this is some kind of… arranged marriage, kingdom thing?!" Haruka could no longer control her tears, doubling over and starting to cry. Sterling then kneeled down in front of her and rubbed his hand along her back, to which Haruka visibly stiffened.

"Absolutely not," Sterling said gently, but with his voice devoid of any emotion or sincerity, "You are more than that to me. You are my world, and I can't live without you." Haruka then looked up as she gasped for breath, wiping her tears away before looking into Sterling's face. As with his voice, his face was lacking any sign of affection, remaining hard as stone as his hand continued to rub her back. Haruka then got up roughly, throwing his hand off her and pointing angrily at him.

"I don't believe that for one damn second, Sterling Brandt!" She shouted again, her voice raw and choked with tears. Sterling got up as well, looking down on Haruka like an authoritarian parent.

"Haruka," He said sternly as he folded his arms, "I'm not quite fond of your tone."

"Well, tough!" Haruka growled, her fists clenched, "If you don't like it, then you could just-!"

Haruka never got to finish her sentence, as a sudden back-handed slap from Sterling sent her collapsing onto the asphalt. Lewis gasped as Sterling merely stood over her prone, crying body, giving her one final hard stare as he said, "By the time I see you again, your attitude better have changed. Otherwise, there'll be consequences." Without another word, he then walked away and left Haruka, passing by Lewis without noticing him. Lewis quickly got out of his hiding spot and crept over to the fallen woman, putting his hand gently on hers. Haruka slowly moved her aching head and opened her tearstained eyes, her vision clearing up until she managed to see Lewis standing over her, a concerned look upon his face.

"Are you ok, Haruka?" He asked softly, helping her to her feet. Haruka only nodded quietly as Lewis hefted her arm over his shoulder.

"I'll be ok…" She said quietly, turning her head to gently nuzzle his fuzz-studded neck.

"Can I help you out anywhere?" Lewis asked, leading her through the crowds towards the pits, purposely taking a longer way around to avoid Sterling's group.

"Maybe somewhere quiet?" She asked, looking at him with those big, adorable brown eyes. Lewis whimpered as he suddenly came up with an idea and led Haruka straight into Pegasus. He then covered her in a blanket gently, leaving the windows open and locking the station wagon.

"Will you be ok in here?" He asked before he left.

"I will," Haruka said, nodding as she snuggled herself into the blanket, before muttering a quiet "Thank you…"

"Anytime." Lewis said casually as he patted Pegasus' roof and left Haruka to nap. In his head, though, fireworks were going off as the image of Haruka sleeping cutely in his car made Lewis oddly blissful. A happy smile ended up spread across his face as he walked his way back into the pits.


	10. Of Corkscrews and Stiff Competition

When Lewis got back onto pit lane, Herbie and Roddy were gearing up for their first heat of the day. The little bug was pushed onto the pits by Jackson, Roddy, and Wilson, joining a grid that was made up of newer import cars including a red BMW M3 two-door coupe, a bright yellow Mercedes C63 Black two-door coupe, and a large, white Bentley Continental GT coupe, all modern cars of the highest sporting caliber. Herbie was lined up at the rear of the pack, at Morrison's recommendation for good competition as, in front, Sterling leaned on his shining, aggressively styled Nissan GTR coupe. The Japanese sportscar was painted in the same shining silver as his Infiniti, but showed no signs of being ridiculously modified. The lean-jawed male grinned to himself as he looked back to see Herbie lining up behind a black Jaguar F-Type two-door coupe on the grid. This was his chance to leave that little bug in the dirt and rub its loss in the same dirt once and for all.

A race official stepped onto the track a few minutes later and pointing his wrapped flag at the racers. This was the signal for the drivers to enter their cars and start their engines, who did so with unsurprising gusto. Among the cacophony of rumbling six-, eight-, and twelve-cylinder engines, Herbie's little flat-four wheezed and howled comically, causing many on the pit lane and in the stands to laugh mockingly. Sterling smirked at their mirth, the GTR's engine growling smoothly way up in front. The official then raised his flag high, which was greeted by the drivers sticking their hands out of their car to indicate their readiness. In a flash, the official's green flag went down and he stepped out of the way, as a million or so combined horses rumbled forward to start the day's next heat. The field spread out evenly as all the cars were off the line, Herbie bringing up the rear as Roddy was once again chewing on the side of his cheek, focusing solely on getting Herbie into first.

Cresting over the first hilly corner and rounding down to the second, a tight left-hand hairpin, Herbie took advantage of the other cars' need to brake as he shot by some of them on the outside. The little car then pushed himself into the mid-field, overtaking a Bentley Continental and causing its driver to give the car his finger as Herbie shot ahead, the field spreading out nicely again as they headed through the third turn. Down the straight, a Mercedes coupe was blocking Herbie's way and braking hard in anticipation, but Roddy swerved Herbie into the inside and took the fourth turn right on the inside, kicking up some dirt as he did so as the Mercedes went off the track and slid into the dirt. Grinning to himself, Roddy then gripped Herbie's lever, downshifting to get some acceleration in as the Bug sat tight near the upper middle, sandwiched between a BMW M3 and a bright red Corvette sports coupe. They continued staying back on power as the race headed uphill, only to suddenly drop down through Laguna Seca's infamous Corkscrew. Sterling handled the blind, curving descent just fine, keeping up his lead as he let the car's computers do the driving for him. Herbie, meanwhile, handled the driving for Roddy, letting his driver learn the pedal movement and steering to smoothly exit the curve. Roddy picked up quickly on this as the race went into its second lap.

Sterling grinned as he looked in his rearview, seeing nothing but sports cars behind him as the man led another lap through the tight left-hand hairpin and down the course. As the race went on and on towards the ten-lap limit, he turned on his radio and relaxed, treating the competition like a leisurely drive. The same couldn't be said for Roddy however, as he found himself boxed in by the other sports cars blocking his way. A Mercedes and BMW flanked his sides as a Jaguar held him at the front, the Bentley blocking him from behind. Roddy growled as he looked desperately for an opening, but Herbie had his own plans. As they went around the fourth corner again, Herbie purposefully let himself oversteer and began to spin. Roddy screamed again as he gripped the wheel, keeping his feet off the pedals as Herbie used his momentum to lift himself up on his left wheels, rounding the curve on two wheels and getting on the Jaguar's outside. His right side then came down as they accelerated into the fifth turn and headed uphill, leaving the pack behind and the other driver's stunned. Roddy managed to catch his breath by the sixth turn and expertly navigated Herbie down the corkscrew, adding with a hint of desperation in his voice, "Please tell me when you're going to do that next time!"

By the last couple laps, Sterling was far ahead and getting bored of winning. Braking gently, he coasted softly around the hairpin and took a leisurely drive on the straights. He knew that he'd win eventually, so why not call the race now? That was, of course, until he saw Herbie suddenly powersliding into view, tires squealing as the bug was now coming after his GTR. Suddenly choking on his own saliva, Sterling coughed as he shifted the sports car into a higher gear, flames spitting out of the tailpipe as the sports car lurched forward, accelerating away from Herbie. Roddy raised an eyebrow and held out his hand, catching Herbie's shifter in it as the bug moved his gear lever back and downshifting again for a burst of power. Sterling growled as he braked on the approach to the corkscrew, taking the turn as carefully as he could while Herbie zoomed nimbly down, giving control to Roddy. The younger driver grinned and adjusted his glasses slightly as Herbie caught up on the last couple curves, now right behind Sterling as they streaked past the pits. Lewis, Wilson and Jackson cheered as Herbie was now putting the pressure on Sterling, the latter in rage as the Bug stayed on his rear, suddenly throwing his concentration off as he braked late on the hairpin and slid outside, letting Herbie overtake on the inside as he fought for traction.

The race was now down to its final lap as Herbie shot ahead, Roddy not letting up one bit as he bit every apex and took advantage of every straight he had to get some distance on Sterling. The GTR was now growling as loud as his driver, pushed to the very limit as he squealed and slid loudly at every corner. As he did though, Sterling could swear he felt a slight pain in his neck but ignored it as he chased Herbie uphill. The closer and closer the GTR got, the more tantalizingly close Sterling felt to victory as his car nearly clipped Herbie's rear bumper. However, as Sterling tried to take Herbie on the outside going down the Corkscrew, the immense torque generated by the GTR's drive system suddenly kicked in, throwing Sterling into the driver's window and spraining his neck. As he screamed in blind pain and rage, Sterling lost control of his car and ran into the sand below the hill, the car managing to stop mere inches from the retaining wall in a big cloud of dust. Herbie, meanwhile, sped on ahead to win his heat, earning cheers from all watching as Morrison stood by, smiling proudly. When Herbie got back to the pits, Morrison was waiting to greet him as the other racers cruised by, shouting congratulations to Herbie as Lewis was getting ready for his own heat.

"Nice job out there, Gomez!" Morrison grinned, shaking Roddy's hand graciously, "I knew your little car would provide a good show for my crowd!"

"Think nothing of it, Mr. Brandt!" Roddy beamed as he was suddenly hugged by Wilson, screaming, "GAH! Let me go, you madman!"

"Never!" Wilson grinned as he then set Roddy down, shaking Morrison's hand as well, adding, "Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Brandt! I'm a fan of your franchise!."

"Ah, you must be Wilson Radinsky!" Morrison beamed, shaking his hand back before he asked, "1976 SCCA Champion?"

"1975, '76, _and_ '77!" Wilson grinned, "My son's taking my car out for a spin!"

"Wonderful!" Morrison grinned as he led Wilson off to have a conversation. Jackson managed to pass by them after helping helping Lewis line up the Elan for the next heat. When the cars all revved away to start their race, Jackson saw Roddy climbing into Herbie and laying in his backseat to rest. The afro-bobbed male walked over and knocked on the Bug's rear passenger side window, causing Roddy to look up at him.

"Comfy?" Jackson asked, leaning on Herbie casually.

"Uh-huh." Roddy nodded as he slipped his glasses off and closed his eyes.

"What happened to Sterling back there?" Jackson asked further, "I didn't see him cross the line."

"I dunno either." Roddy responded softly, "Last I saw, he lost control of his car coming out of the Corkscrew. I guess he never recovered." Jackson nodded as he went to go watch the race, letting Roddy nap in peace as Herbie took the opportunity to relax as well. As far as they knew, might as well bask in victory with Sterling seemingly out of the picture.

The rest of the day went on quite uneventfully, but still quite exciting. Sterling and his cohorts had all left and Haruka rejoined the crew to watch Herbie's second race, this time coming in second behind a white, boxy,and quite tiny Austin Cooper S in the classic car heat. Try as they denied it, Roddy and Herbie only wanted to look humble by making the smaller car win, which caused Morrison a lot of amusement. Lewis managed to get some good runs out as well, winning two heats in the little Elan and coming in third on an all-Lotus race with modern,sleek sports cars and old, almost coffin-shaped Formula one cars. All in all, the crew decided that today was a great race day, and Morrison personally bid them farewell as they departed the track, Herbie giving the businessman a happy beep when they passed under the gate.

As the four retired to their hotel in Monterey tonight, Haruka and Lewis took the time to walk on the boardwalk and take in the warm ocean air that night. Out in silence, they stood at the end, looking out in the vast and endless ocean while the wind whipped through their hair. Haruka then looked to Lewis and gently nudged him. Shaken from his blank stare, Lewis looked down at her suddenly, wondering what was wrong.

"Thank you…" Haruka said quietly, a big smile across her face.

"Oh…" Lewis said, taken by surprise but offering her a smile back, saying, "You're welcome.

"It felt good to stand up to him like that." She continued as she looked out to the horizon, "I don't know what got into his head; thinking that because his dad is in business with my dad, that gave him the right to date me."

"Was he horrible?" Lewis asked further, "You don't have to answer if it's too hard."

"He was…" Haruka sighed, looking down at the water now and letting her head hang. A moment of silence passed before she continued, "He was awful… I don't know what got into him, but… he was manipulative, possessive…" She sighed again, looking up at Lewis and finishing, "I'm just happy to be rid of him."

"You think he'll come back for you?" Lewis asked, gently holding her hand.

"I don't doubt it one bit," Haruka said, looking at his hand before she looked as his face, "but consider my bruised face as a breakup." Lewis tsked before leaning in, gently kissing Haruka on her bruised cheek, causing the girl to coo gently and lean into him. There the two stood for a while, in each other's arms as they listened to the gentle ocean breeze encircle them. To Lewis, he felt whole; to Haruka, she felt free.

Meanwhile at the local hospital, Sterling was being let loose after doctors determined all he had suffered from was a minor neck spasm. When he reached the waiting room, he found his father waiting for him. Morrison quickly got up as he saw Sterling walk out and quickly approached him, giving his son a tight, caring hug.

"Are you ok, my son?" He asked, sounding quite relieved. Sterling grunted as he feigned pain, emitting a loud groan.

"My neck, dad, my neck!" Sterling grumbled, to which Morrison let go quickly and regained composure.

"My apologies," He said, patting his son on the shoulder.

"Sure, dad." Sterling nodded emotionlessly, heading for the exit and taking his phone out, adding, "What did you think of my performance today?"

"I thought it was just wonderful, son." Morrison responded cheerfully as he followed, "But I'm really impressed in inviting that nice Gomez kid out here. He really did provide good entertainment for us today." Upon hearing this, Sterling stopped in his tracks and turned around, looking as his dad with an odd expression.

"...You what?" He asked, already knowing that his dad invited Roddy, but wanting more information out of him.

"Well of course!" Morrison exclaimed as he let Sterling into his car, an important-looking black Mercedes Benz S-Class saloon, "I saw his interesting car and knew something was in there that could provide a good show for my races."

"I see…" Sterling commented, intrigued as he asked, "And do you know what that 'something' was?"

"Huh, let's see…" Morrison replied as he stopped in his tracks, tapping his chin before saying, "I guess, its determination and unorthodoxy. I mean, it looked pretty unique to me, that's for sure, and it handles like nothing I've ever seen. I guess I can't explain it." Sterling frowned as he walked to his dad's car and opened the door. "Useless old man," he thought to himself as he strapped himself in, wondering just how to pay Roddy back for embarrassing himself today. As Morrison drove them to the hotel, Sterling began to formulate ideas. He then whipped out his phone and began to text his friends. Some business needed to be done before the races tomorrow, and he was going to be at the very head.


	11. A Modest Proposal

The weekend soon wound down at Laguna Seca Raceway as Roddy and Lewis participated in another day filled with heart-pounding. Sterling and his cohorts, to their relief, didn't bother to show up at all as Herbie and the Elan raced hard along the curvaceous track. Once or twice, they even went up against each other in the classic car bouts, with Lewis and Roddy looking at each other menacingly before they both laughed and braked to allow the other to take a victory each. To them, winning meant nothing as friends; as far as they were concerned, Roddy and Lewis only started racing for the fun of it. As they crested around the last turn on Laguna Seca and crossed the line with Herbie barely winning by his bumper, the two pulled into the pits and were greeted by Jackson, Haruka, and Wilson. Morrison Brandt was standing next to Wilson, grinning from ear to ear as Herbie came to a stop in front of him.

"Wonderful racing out there, boys!" Morrison beamed, patting Roddy and Lewis on the shoulder as they stepped out of their cars, "

"Thanks, Mr. Brandt!" Lewis beamed, walking up to Haruka and giving her a hug.

"What happened to Sterling though?" Roddy wondered, leaning on Herbie's open door.

"Oh, he had to go to the hospital." Morrison replied as he sighed, "His neck muscles spasmed when he went down the Corkscrew. Pain left him completely paralyzed from what I saw, but temporarily, of course." Everyone cringed when they heard what happened to Sterling, but nobody apart from Morrison held any sympathy from the smug individual.

"Well." Wilson said, patting the Elan's hood, "I think it's time we'd be heading home. I have a garage to run, and lord knows Roddy's got some deliveries that need delivering."

"Oh crap!" Roddy screamed, his eyes popping open in surprise, "I completely forgot! I need to run off and call my mom!" He then ran off in the direction of the concession stand, as Haruka chuckled softly.

"He still a mama's boy?" She said, crossing her arms and looking up at Lewis.

"Well," Lewis said, scratching the back of his neck, "She does worry a lot about him." Roddy then immediately came running back, panting as he leaned on Herbie tiredly.

"You guys mind… if I jet early…?" Roddy panted, gasping to catch his breath as Lewis and Wilson both looked at each other, "Mom needs me back to run more deliveries."

"Sure." Wilson said, "We can clean up around here since we got… Lewis' new girlfriend?" He then looked at his son incredulously, mouth gaping as he asked, "When did you get a girlfriend?"

"I'll, uh…" Lewis stuttered, blushing in embarrassment, "I'll tell you on the drive home."

Roddy then said his goodbyes to his friends and Morrison, shaking his hand as the businessman promised Roddy that he would be welcome in his own establishment with Herbie. Roddy agreed and soon drove off in Herbie, stopping by the hotel to grab his stuff and toss it into the Beetle's backseat. He then merged onto the Interstate Five freeway, settling in for a long drive as he shifted Herbie into high gear and leaned back in his seat, the bug driving along the softly-curving freeway rather perfectly as classic rock played on his old radio. Roddy sighed, taking the time to reflect upon the past couple days. So far, he had lost a car, gotten a new one, made a rival, and got to race at Laguna Seca and win some races. It all felt so fast to the bespectacled man, adjusting his glasses as Herbie was driving through Bakersfield at a decent clip.

Roddy's thoughts then turned to Sterling Brandt. The male couldn't find himself hating on the individual anymore, at least off the track. In a way, it was thanks to him that Herbie ended up in his possession in the first place. In fact, even racing him at Laguna Seca bought Roddy no real sense of superiority or smugness. He merely felt that he had fun and got to share it with people he liked, including Herbie. The little car wasn't so dumb himself, sensing Roddy's need to have fun overwhelming his need to win. To Herbie, his owner's enjoyment came first and whatever happened, he would be there to help Roddy in any way he knew how, even if it came down to helping him drive out on the track. The two racers were lost in their own thoughts as Herbie soon re-entered Pasadena, stopping at Roddy's parent's place by the time the sun went down.

When Roddy knocked on the door to the apartment, his mom was quick to respond and happily engaged her son with what happened over the past couple days. After talking for a couple hours, the two kissed each other goodnight and headed up to bed. Roddy tried his best to sleep, but tried as he might, his mind was just too cluttered from past couple days to even try and relax. He sighed heavily and rubbed his own chest, his mind swimming in multiple random thoguhts before it was suddenly jolted out by his phone buzzing. Growling tiredly, Roddy turned onto his side and looked at his phone, then suddenly reeled back as the brightly-glowing screen struck his face. As his vision cleared, Roddy found that it was a text from Lewis, saying:

"3751 chase apparently tomorrow, wanna go?"

Roddy blinked and nodded to himself, texting back, "Sure, I'll bring Herbie."

"Awesome," the reply read, "We'll need a fast car. I texted Haruka and she said she couldn't come due to her ride breaking down. See ya at 10!"

"See ya." Roddy texted back before he left his phone alone and rolled onto his other side, yawning heavily. It was a big day tomorrow, so he had to get all the sleep he could.

When the sun eventually rose the next morning, Roddy was up at 6AM and was brushing his teeth to the sound of old racing commentaries playing on his smartphone. His parents were up an hour later and were preparing the restaurant to open for breakfast, while Roddy was in the back preparing lunches for the day's excursion. As he worked, however, he could hear the apartment's doorbell go off. His father was quick to answer as he came downstairs in his business suit, opening the door and looking outside. Indistinct conversation soon followed as Roddy packed the food into styrofoam boxes for later, but was then interrupted checking in the fridge by his dad.

"Rodrigo," He said, "There's someone at the door for you."

"You know who it was?" Roddy replied, pulling a package of sausages out of the fridge.

"Some of your friends, probably." His dad said, "Go see to him, I have to go to work."

"Alright dad, I love you!" Roddy called out as he ripped open the package and set the sausages to fry. Cleaning himself up a little, he had expected Lewis or Jackson to have shown up early to get some breakfast. However, those feelings of friendliness were soon dashed as he saw Sterling Brandt standing politely in his doorway, an uncharacteristically warm smile on his face.

"Good morning." He said, flashing a friendly grin.

"Sorry, the other rats are busy at the moment!" Roddy suddenly shouted as he pushed Sterling out the door and slammed it on him. Sterling stumbled back and huffed, breaking character for a moment before he regained his smile and knocked again.

"I'd just like to talk to you for a bit!" He said, causing Roddy to look through the peephole.

"And why'd you want to do that after you've insulted me and my car?" Roddy responded. His mother then peeked in to see what was happening, but Roddy shooed her off and said he had it under control.

"Because, ever since Laguna Seca," said Sterling, "I've been a changed man. I don't desire to harm you or your little car anymore. I'd just want to talk a little bit." Roddy thought for a moment and nodded, opening the door and waving goodbye to his better judgement. Sterling immediately walked inside and shook his hand tightly.

"We can talk in the dining room, it's empty right now." Roddy said, gesturing to the restaurant, "Would you like something to drink?"

"A water, please." Sterling replied graciously as he entered the restaurant and sat down at the countertop. He then laid a folder out on the counter as Roddy appeared on the other side with two glasses of ice water. Sterling held his up and drank, while Roddy looked at him skeptically.

"So," Roddy said, tapping his right index finger upon his chilly glass, "Why're you here?"

"To offer you a proposition." Sterling said, opening the folder in front of them. Inside was a poster for an upcoming road race in Laguna Seca, unsponsored other than by Sterling's company. What caught Roddy's eye, however, was the fact that the poster read, at the top: "By Invite Only."

"You came to propose another race?" Roddy asked, "I thought the last time we did, we almost broke your neck."

"Oh, this one is different." Sterling beamed, his finger tapping his lap agitatedly under the counter, "Whoever wins this race not only gets bragging rights, but a cash prize of $10,000 in physical form, and a chance to join my racing crew."

"Uh-huh…" Roddy muttered, looking at the poster carefully, "And you're inviting me, why?"

"Why," Sterling grinned unnaturally, but Roddy wasn't looking at him, "I saw your performance out there at Laguna Seca before I crashed. You really are a determined little individual, aren't you?"

"Well…" Roddy looked to the side, nodding humbly, "I try my best out there, you know?"

"Of course, of course!" Sterling said, holding his smile, "And I feel with the right equipment, you can definitely go professional too!"

"Really now?" Roddy said, blinking as he looked at Sterling, "No joke?"

"Absolutely not, my friend." The other male beamed, offering the poster towards Roddy, "If you show up to Angeles Crest and beat me in one race up the mountain, I'll not only offer you a spot on my team and the $10,000, but also a new car _and_ a starting position at the Libre Open at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, representing me."

"That…" Roddy started, thinking about the ramifications of this decision. If he accepted, he'd get money, a new car, and a professional racing gig. His dreams were finally coming true, but then his eyes drifted over to Herbie. The little car sat innocently outside, with Sterling's black Mercedes sedan in front of him. Roddy thought of Wilson, Lewis, and Jackson as well, and how they would feel if he were to suddenly leave. "Turn pro, or stick with the same thing?" He then thought to himself, looking from Herbie to Sterling. After a few minutes of thinking, Sterling broke the silence.

"If you did show up, you'll be able to show off all your cool racing moves on us as well." He said, grinning, "I mean, winning a race backwards? How crazy's that, you know?"

"I guess it is pretty showy…" Roddy surmised, tapping his chin as he looked at the clock, "Come to think of it, yeah. I'll definitely show up just this once. If I lose, you leave me alone, but if I win, I get a new Subaru WRX. And you leave me alone."

"Of course, of course!" Sterling smiled, taking the poster with him as he shook Roddy's hand, "I'll be sure to do all of that, you have my word!"

"So this Friday, 8PM?" Roddy called as he followed Sterling to the door.

"Absolutely!" Sterling beamed, "You won't be disappointed."

"Yeah, alright." Roddy said as he closed the door, "See you then."

Sterling kept up his smile until he saw the door shut, instantly frowning as he eyed Herbie with an immense amount of contempt. Making sure Roddy couldn't see him, Sterling then opened Herbie's front trunklid and hefted the piece of metal upwards. Inside Herbie's trunk was merely his spare tire and a rim-and-hubcap set in the middle which was filled with useful roadside tools. He then grumbled as Sterling took out a small device from his coat pocket and pressed a button on it. The device then began quietly beeping, emitting a faint green light as Sterling stuck it to the underside of Herbie's hood. Finding his work satisfactory, Sterling then shut the hood down as hard as he could, slamming it down on Herbie as the little car shuddered and rolled backwards slightly. Grinning, Sterling then returned to his car, pulling out his phone to make a call.

"It's time," He said ominously as he sat in the backseat, his chauffeur climbing into the driver's seat and starting off.

"Ok, boss!" Dirk replied on the other line, "I'll tell Nova." He then hung up and walked through the crowded beach parking lot. Arriving at the other end, he found a wiry-looking man surrounded by most of Sterling's cohorts. He was dressed in a leather vest and not much else to show off his thin, pale body. His head shaved perfectly bald as well with his goggles atop his forehead and torn black denim jeans down his legs, ending in thick, black-leather Doc Marten boots. Nova, as nobody knew his real name, looked more like a steampunk punk if anything, with an insane grin always on his angular, almost alien face to show off his rotten teeth. Sterling had Nova join his club under the admiration of his wild and crazy driving style, which suited the driver every time he had to compete in rally car racing, as well as muscling Sterling's cohorts and other rivals whenever they threatened to step out of line.

As Dirk approached Nova cautiously, he found the man sitting on his prized Ford Crown Victoria, nicknamed "The Interceptor". The former police sedan was decorated in a wild array of blues, yellows and reds that looked more like a psychopathic hippie van, with red blood splatters forming the hot-rod flames down the side fading into a blue-striped dirty yellow that seemed to show centuries of ill repair by its owner. The engine hood had a large rectangular hole cut out to make room for a giant air intake that stuck out of the car like a ridiculous chrome garden statue, three holes at the top serving as the car's nostrils to feed its ravenous V8, American built engine. The traditional police bullbar was still at the front, but was now festooned with welded spikes and sharp pieces of jagged metal, meant to intimidate and even damage any opponent who got in Nova's way, resembling the jagged teeth of a wild animal. Atop the roof, in place of a siren, was a massive five-chime train horn that could echo for miles around if blown, and could scare the living daylights out of anyone the horn aimed at. Finally, the Crown Victoria sported a massive, spiked wing at the back, meant more for show than anything functional, and sat on thick offroad wheels that lifted the car a full foot off the ground. Dirk was afraid to approach the mad vehicle, lest it come alive and suddenly gobble him up as tribute. As Nova was regaling the crowd of his exploits in the Outback, he suddenly stopped and looked to Dirk menacingly with his shining silver eyes.

"N-Nova!" Dirk stammered, nervously shaking, "I-it's the boss!"

"Yes, yes," Nova replied in a smooth Australian accent, waving his gloved hand dismissively, "What's ol' Silverface want now?"

"It's time, he said." Dirk said, quickly running up to Nova and handing him a smartphone before backing away quickly, "They're heading out." Nova grinned, turning on the phone to find a GPS tracking application already on it, showing Herbie's current location at the Mission St. garage.

"Perfect…" Nova purred, standing atop the roof of his vehicle with his boot on the horn to address the crowd, "Let's ride hard and make Sterling proud! Are you with me!?"

A chorus of cheers and hollers greeted Nova as he pumped his fist into the air, swinging down and through the window of his Crown Victoria as he started up his engine. The Interceptor's engine whirred into life, then roared as flames blasted out of its exhaust pipe, nearly setting one innocent cohort on fire. The group quickly disbanded as Nova's animalistic car roared ahead, its driver putting on his goggles as Red followed suit in his smaller Honda S2000. Dirk then attempted to follow in his orange Mustang coupe, but found himself losing control as the sports car roared up the parking ramp and instantly went sideways, almost hitting a woman walking her dog. Dirk quickly regained control of his car and drove off, following the group as they sped off in pursuit of Herbie. Nova grinned, flexing his fingerless-gloved hands on the wheel. It had been a while since his Interceptor had taken a good bite out of a car, and now both he and his ride were absolutely starving.


	12. The Chase

Back at Mission St., Herbie and Pegasus were both being fitted with outside cameras for train shooting. Lewis, being a big train buff as well as a car geek, had heard of a steam locomotive excursion heading up Soledad Canyon to Palmdale, and was determined to get good pacing shots of the train as it went through the scenic valley. Roddy and Jackson came along as well, with Jackson manning a computer that connected to the cameras on Pegasus and Herbie, while Roddy, obviously, traveled in Herbie and carried everyone's lunches. At 10AM, the group left Mission Street and headed north on the 210 freeway, going up into the Angeles Mountains. After exchanging with the Interstate Five and California Fourteen freeways, the two cars now found themselves on Soledad Canyon road heading East.

The road soon got curvier as the two climbed at speed to meet the train at a crossing, if necessary. Herbie stayed behind Pegasus, enjoying the lush greenery surrounding the curvy mountain road as Lewis and Jackson watched the line below them for a sign of the train. Suddenly, a loud whistle was heard as the train did come into view, a big, stocky, and black steam locomotive leading a diesel locomotive and a line of passenger coaches from many different railroads. The steam locomotive featured the letters "A.T.S.F" on its boxy oil tender, with "3751" written underneath, sporting four small front wheels, eight large driving wheels that pounded the rails, and four smaller wheels in the back that supported the crew cab and rear of the immense boiler. Grey-white smoke poured out of its howling smokestack as the train made its way uphill, making Lewis squeal with delight as he excitedly pointed.

"It's there, it's there!" He shouted, pointing for Jackson's sake.

"Yes, yes." Jackson replied, concentrating on his laptop, "I can see it onscreen." He then froze as Lewis picked up one of the walkie-talkies they packed and called to Roddy.

"Roddy!" He shouted into the radio, "Can you see it?!"

"I can see it just fine!" Roddy said, letting go of Herbie's wheel to watch the train as the Bug followed Pegasus at an even pace.

As they crossed a large bridge spanning the canyon to get closer to the train, however, Jackson tugged on Lewis's sleeve. The angular-faced man looked over at his screen, then paled as he looked back through Roddy's windows to see an ominous sight. There was Nova's Interceptor, engine roaring as it shot over the bridge, and coming up to get them. Its driver licked its thin lips menacingly, breaking into a grin as the heavily-modified sedan caught up to the group and was about to ram Herbie. Herbie beeped in alarm as Roddy's focus shifted from the train by them, seeing Nova right on his tail and dropping his camera in shock..

"Oh, crap!" Roddy screamed as Herbie suddenly accelerated, forcing Lewis to accelerate as well as the two were chased by the madman. Sterling's cronies followed close behind as the road offered them no way out, being cut deep into the mountainside and offering little to no room for evasions. The nightmarish sound of the Interceptor's train horn echoed through the canyon, nearly deafening the two drivers in front of him as Lewis and Roddy both tried to get away.

Nova grinned as his Interceptor got close to Herbie, its spikes nipping at the Beetle's rear bumper. Herbie whimpered as he felt the spikes touching him ever so slightly, and instantly booked it into the other lane, leaving Roddy screaming as he held on for dear life as Herbie passed Pegasus and shot ahead. Nova grinned in response, mashing his boot down to the floor as the Interceptor shot past Pegasus, flames roaring out of the back as the glorified war wagon went after the little bug. Dirk and Red, meanwhile, stayed on Lewis' tail, getting close to the wagon and pushing its driver to go just a little bit faster on harrowing road. Lewis, however, would have none of it and immediately switched his foot to the brakes.

"Hang onto something!" He shouted to Jackson as he suddenly stomped the brakes hard, forcing Red to swerve blindly and spin out in front of him, nearly meeting his end on the rocky wall above him. Dirk swerved as well, losing control of his Mustang and suddenly smashing its front into another rocky outcropping. The muscle car hit the outcropping at such full force that Dirk ended up flipping onto his roof, thankfully escaping injury as Pegasus immediately flew by after Herbie and Nova. A red and black streak soon followed after, zipping past Lewis and Jackson as flames popped out of the Hayabusa's exhaust.

"It's the rider from Kanan Dume!" Jackson screamed, pointed as they passed Pegasus.

"I know!" Lewis screamed back, mashing his foot down on Pegasus' pedal and going a little faster, "We gotta save Roddy!"

Meanwhile, far up ahead, Herbie and the Interceptor zipped through cars and in-between lanes, the little Beetle trying to escape the menacing beast coming after them with gusto. This was what Nova lived for, the thrill of the chase before he inevitably pushed his victims, and their cars, into a nasty accident. Herbie quickly whipped down Crown Valley road, powersliding right and barely avoiding an old woman in a little hatchback. Nova then rumbled through, the Interceptor kicking up dust as it shot right through the intersection and went on the dirt slightly. The Rider was not far behind, zipping down after them and catching up the Interceptor. Roddy was meanwhile panicking as Herbie weaved in and out of the curvy road, the train not too far behind as it crossed a railroad bridge right above them. Nova grinned again, showing off his teeth as he got closer to Herbie again, the bull-bar's spikes nipping and poking at the little car's rear.

"GET THE HELL AWAY!" Roddy screamed as he looked back at the menacing car, his chest pounding as his hands kneaded and gripped Herbie's seat tightly. The Bug then ran parallel to the tracks, getting a crazy idea. With a warning honk from Herbie, Roddy quickly braced himself again as Herbie swerved and skidded onto the dirt, nearly jumping as the little car mounted the tracks and began rolling on them at high speed.

"Oh, so you're gonna play trains, yeah?" Nova growled hungrily, swerving after Herbie and narrowly missing a minivan as the Crown Victoria slammed onto the tracks, kicking up bits of gravel as the car bounced and shuddered on the rough railroad ties. 3751, meanwhile, saw this and her driver blew the whistle several times, the massive locomotive rushing up behind them as the strong black woman peeked the side of the cab, one hand on the brake lever as she blew the whistle again.

"Get off the damn tracks, maniacs!" She yelled out, "I got your plates!"

Roddy and Nova never heard her as Herbie used the long straight to zip ahead of Nova, who was beginning to tire of bumping around. Getting off the tracks with a violent jolt, the Interceptor revved ahead until it was level with Herbie. Nova was waiting for the right time to strike, being able to jump and hit the car broadside and cause its drive immeasurable pain. As he was watching and calculating, though, the Rider was coming up beside him. Up ahead, they could see a series of perfect intersections up ahead where they could lose Nova and force him into the dirt. Grinning to themselves, they then came up with the craziest idea ever: taunting Nova.

"Hey, _baka_!" They yelled over the noise of Nova's engine. Nova saw the rider out of the corner of his eyes and decided to look, finding only a stupid motorcyclist right beside him. This would be fun.

"What do you want!?" He yelled back, "Can't you see I'm busy here!?"

"I know!" They yelled through their helmet, "I just wanted to say your car's a piece of crap, dude!" Nova fumed suddenly, nobody was going to taunt his Interceptor and get away with it.

"...You're effing dead!" Nova roared as his attention was soon off Herbie, allowing the Beetle to slip away as he attempted to ram the smaller red-black sportbike. The Hayabusa was nimbler than the large car, though, and easily avoided Nova as they crested around a gentle left turn. Nova still wasn't done, imagining the Rider impaled on his front as he pushed forward forcefully. The Rider, again, saw this coming and swerved the other way, braking to get behind Nova's car as they reeled back and suddenly punched his car with their reinforced gloves, smashing its taillight. The sound of breaking plastic alerted Nova to their position and he braked hard suddenly, which led the Rider to, again, swerve out of the way and shoot ahead. Nova growled even more as he went after the Rider, who drew up alongside and turned to him again.

"I bet you can't go as fast as me!" They yelled, before zipping ahead down the desert road.

"I can and I will!" Nova growled as he shot ahead too, the V8 whining in protest as the car hefted itself along after the faster Rider.

Herbie meanwhile took the opportunity to get of the tracks and up onto Soledad Canyon Road, still following the train for protection as he and Roddy watched Nova chase off with the Rider in pursuit. Roddy breathed a sigh of relief and leaned back on Herbie as the little car kept up with the steam locomotive, its fireman waving a gloved fist at them in anger as the train drew ahead. Roddy could only offer a quiet "Sorry" in reply as Herbie then let the locomotive draw forward and away from them. Then, just behind Herbie, Roddy saw Lewis and Jackson coming up behind them, Pegasus' tires squealing hard as it navigated the tight mountain curves as Lewis suddenly crackled onto the radio.

"Are you ok?!" He shouted over the locomotive's exhaust and Pegasus' own rumbling engine.

"I'm… ok!" Roddy replied, catching his breath, "Are there any more?"

"Not that we saw!" Jackson replied, "Who even was that!?"

"I have no idea!" Roddy called out, "But thank that motorcyclist for saving my damn life!"

Up ahead, the Rider was fastly approaching a railroad crossing on their left and a dirt clearing on the right. Looking behind themselves to find Nova still accelerating and coming up to meet them, they then tapped the Hayabusa's brake and swung their foot out, going into a drift onto the dirt as the back wheel still spun, kicking up dust to hide their position. Nova growled as he just punched straight ahead, suddenly losing control of the car as the Interceptor hit the dirt and began to slide. The car bounced suddenly on the dry riverbed, unable to stop as itrs rear swung around too much to the right and headed right for a telephone pole. Nova screamed and braced as the car wrapped itself violently around the pole, making it fall as the skinny man found himself in a cloud of dust and amongst the wreckage of his Interceptor. Slowly getting up, Nova found himself seemingly unhurt as the Hayabusa suddenly ran between the gates just as the big steam locomotive came screaming through, whistle and bell drowning his screams of vengeance.

"Damn cars…" 3751's driver grumbled as she led the locomotive through the crossing, "Always getting in a train's way. I oughta phone the cops on those two, they'll get what's coming to them. Oughta stop gettin' high too..."

Meanwhile, the Rider joined Herbie and Pegasus, escorting the two cars alongside the train until they stopped at the Vincent Grade/Acton station up ahead. The two cars quickly found a parking space as the steam locomotive thundered past quickly, continuing on its way to Palmdale with its excursion train. The Hayabusa sportbike soon stopped in front of them as well, all three drivers dismounting or exiting their rides and panting hard in exhaustion. Herbie felt tired too, wiggling his rear as if still feeling the spikes up against his bumper. Roddy laid his upper body out on Herbie's hood before looking up, coming into eye contact with the rider.

"My hero…" He mumbled dizzily, pointing weakly at them, "Wh-who are you…?"

"Yeah…" Lewis wondered, walking up to the Rider until he was inches away from them, "Why'd you come out here to try and save us?"

"Because, _baka_ ," The rider said as she suddenly took off her helmet and shook her shoulder length brown hair off of her face, "I love you!"

"H-HARUKA!?" Lewis screamed, reeling back and suddenly falling flat on his behind. Roddy and Jackson were in shock too, seeing as Haruka was dressed in a red-black coat and pants that matched her bike's red and black colors. They never suspected her of being the Rider in the first place; even Herbie was shocked as well.

"Wait, wait!" Jackson suddenly cried, "So _you_ were the one Roddy raced on Kanan Dume road?!"

"Uhh… yes?" Haruka nervously replied, running one gloved hand through her smooth hair as she turned to Roddy, "I saw what you did when you raced Sterling, it excited me a lot. So, I followed you three out to Lily's and then chased you up the mountain. Your rail-slide move was very ingenious, but…" She then paused, walking up to Roddy and Herbie and leaning over them, asking, "How did you do it?"

"Uhh…" It was Roddy's turn to stammer, still trying to collect his thoughts as Jackson helped Lewis off the floor, answering with, "...good driving?"

"Interesting…" Haruka said before she turned to the shocked Lewis. Jackson was helping by fanning his shocked face as Lewis suddenly came forward and, before Haruka could say anything, hugged her tightly like she had never been hugged before. She could even feel the warmth and love radiating off the taller male as she hugged him back too, tears forming in her eyes.

"Y-you aren't mad at me for deceiving you," Haruka sniffled, burying her face in Lewis' shoulder, "Are you…?"

"What, no!" Lewis said, continuing to hug her tightly, "I love you, Haruka, and I find it awesome that you can bike like that!"

"Yeah!" Roddy piped up, "Really impressed me and Herbie back on Kanan!"

"Dude," Jackson then said, pointing at Haruka and her bike, "You two are freaking amazing out there.

"Really..?" Haruka sniffled again, drying her tears as she put her hand on Lewis' chest.

"Yes, love," Lewis grinned, not one of his usual manic grins, but one that displayed thankfulness and genuine glee as he continued to hug her, "You'd be welcome with us. Seriously, you've got the mettle to go with us gearheads."

"Th-thanks." Haruka said, cracking a smile as Herbie suddenly played the Wedding March on his horn. She and Lewis both looked at the little car as Roddy tried to cover him up, before Haruka broke into a giggle and finished, saying, "Shamo and I would be delighted to hang out with you… dudes." She then blushed, feeling awkward for saying that.

"Shamo?" Jackson wondered, tilting his head as Haruka pointed a thumb to her Hayabusa.

"I call him that because he resembles a chicken I had with my family growing up," Haruka explained, "He was very thin, red and black, and liked to nuzzle against my side when I'd play in our yard."

"Awww~!" Lewis cooed as he hugged Haruka again, giving her a kiss on the cheek that made her giggle before returning the kiss on his lips. Lewis blushed suddenly, feeling Haruka's lips against his own, looking back at Jackson to make sure he wasn't dreaming.

"Oooh~!" Jackson then cooed, feigning shock, "Looks like someone's in love!"

"Shut up, Evergreen!" Lewis shouted as he broke the kiss, making Haruka giggle again as she leaned against his shoulder. Roddy, meanwhile, couldn't get one thought out of his head as he leaned on Herbie's side.

"Who sent those guys?" He wondered out loud, which led the other three to look at him.

"I dunno…" Jackson said as he scratched at his afro, "But that red sports car and the orange Mustang looked oddly familiar."

"I bet." Lewis said, "That red S2000's the same one that crashed into me at Jackrabbit Springs."

"So if we know who those two belong to," Roddy summed up, "Then we know who's trying to take me out."

"It was Sterling." Haruka finally said, which caused the three men to instantly look at her.

"How do you know?" Roddy then asked, growing increasingly suspicious of Sterling inviting him to race on his own. If he was going to show up Friday night, he would do it to pay Sterling out, not to race for fame and glory anymore. Haruka then told them everything, how she had found out the plan from a stray text sent to her by one of Sterling's cronies who still had her number. The more Haruka told her story, the more Roddy's mind clouded until one thought remained in his mind: Sterling Brandt had to pay with more than just money and a new car.


	13. Set in Stone

Back at the garage after the incident with the Canyon, Roddy and Lewis were both surprised to find the tracking device lodged underneath Herbie's hood after inspecting the Beetle in a garage stall for any damage. Roddy stared hard at the device, feeling immeasurable amounts of anger building inside him as he grabbed the tracking device and threw it hard on the ground. He then stomped angrily onto it, growling as it was reduced to nothing but small plastic rubble with repeated stomping. Lewis, Haruka, and Jackson noted their friend's outburst and approached carefully as Roddy leaned over Herbie's front and seethed, audibly breathing through his clenched teeth.

"Roddy?" Lewis asked, holding his hand out to him cautiously, "Are you ok…?"

"I'm fine." Roddy replied quickly, avoiding eye contact with Lewis and he quickly walked around to Herbie's door and forcefully opened it, getting inside. Herbie started up smoothly and quickly drove away out of the garage, leaving the trio alone and quiet as Wilson walked out of his office, looking at the three in surprise.

"What's got you three in shock?" Wilson asked, then noticed Haruka as he said, "Hi, Haruka."

"Hello, Mr. Radinsky." Haruka replied politely, holding Lewis' hand, "Roddy had just sped off after learning my ex-boyfriend had put a tracking device on his car to attack him."

"Attack him?" Wilson wondered, before saying to himself, "Yeah, that sounds like something Sterling'd do on us. Anyway, you're with us now?"

"Yes, sir." Haruka nodded, leaning on Lewis and making the lankier male cuddle her close, "I feel happier here too."

"Perfect!" Wilson smiled as he took her hand and politely kissed it, "You're always welcome here at Mission Independent."

"What'll we do about Roddy though?" Jackson wondered, "We can't just let him out there on his own and possibly hurt himself."

"True…" Wilson agreed, scratching at his stubbly chin, "We'll give him time and then take him to dinner in the evening. Maybe the prospect of food'll cheer him right up."

"Or that cute waiter he saw at Lily's will." Lewis giggled, telling Haruka all about Roddy's encounter with "Dent" at the diner.

"Sounds dorky." She then giggled back.

"Alright." Jackson concluded, pointing to his Land Rover, "I'm gonna go work on Forrest while we leave Roddy to his devices. We'll see him at 6PM?"

"6PM sounds good." Wilson agreed, turning to Lewis and Haruka and saying, "Alright with you two?"

"Absolutely." Lewis nodded with Haruka and concluded, "I'm sure Roddy'll be fine. He knows how to take care of himself.

Roddy, meanwhile, was rocketing down the 10 Freeway at ninety miles an hour, making a beeline for the beach. Herbie groaned nervously as his driver roughly yanked the gear lever and stomped on his gas. The little car felt afraid of Roddy for once, trying to slow down but Roddy would just stomp on the gas harder, forcing Herbie to keep going dangerously fast.

"Stupid car…" Roddy muttered to himself as he weaved in and out of traffic, "Stupid Sterling and his accursed car his godawful 'friends'." He growled again, honking at a slow Jeep in front of him as he sped on ahead, yelling, "Use your turn signals, you idiot!" Returning to angrily muttering to himself, Roddy spend much of his angry car ride in silence as he reached the big beach city of Santa Monica. Herbie soon came to a screeching stop right on Santa Monica Pier and shuddered again a the strong ocean breeze as Roddy stepped out quickly and shut his door hard. "Stay here." He said, "I"m going for a walk." As he walked away down the length of the pier, Herbie sighed and lowered on his suspension sadly. The bug really wanted to try cheering up his owner, but right now Roddy was stuck in a one-track mind and cared for nobody around him except for the one thing he did want to do.

As Roddy walked down the pier, he felt his anger melt away into a depression as he suddenly got a text on his phone and quickly swiped it up in his hand. "Dinner tonight at 6PM, wanna join in?" read Lewis' text, accompanied by a smiling face at the end. Roddy sighed heavily and rolled his eyes, pocketing his phone again and continuing his contemplative walk. On one hand, he felt regretful of his callous reaction in just leaving Wilson's garage without saying anything and for accepting Sterling's offer to race as well given the recent revelations. On the other hand, Roddy didn't want to put his friends in danger anymore. The last thing he desired to see was his friends to get hurt like he did, so keeping them in the dark seemed like the best option. It would be a cruel kindness, he thought, but with them out of the picture, Roddy would only have himself to blame. He stopped at the end of the pier and looked out towards the ocean. There were storm clouds brewing in the distance, the roll of thunder echoing through the sky. Roddy sighed as he leaned on the pier's wooden railing.

"Here we go…" He muttered to himself, his moptop whipping around in the strong wind, "Here comes the storm."

Sterling, meanwhile, was exasperated as he pinched the bridge of his nose. He was sitting in his garage's office, sighing heavily as he opened his eyes to see a bruised and scarred Nova sitting in front of him. The bald, corpse-like man was still feeling the effects of his crash, his right hand in a cast and his left eye bruised. His animalistic grin was now gone as well, replaced only by a shameful pout as several tense minutes went by without Sterling even verbally acknowledging his presence. Finally, the garage's owner leaned forward as Sterling tented his fingers together, giving Nova his usual hard stare. This made Nova shift in his chair, cracking a desperate grin.

"So, uh…" He said, visibly sweating as Sterling's steel-blue eyes pierced right through him. Nova was now feeling true fear for the first time, as now he was in the firing line of Sterling's rage.

"Yes…" Sterling said, continuing the awkward silence.

"I, uh…" Nova started, trying to lighten the situation, "I l-lost the car…"

"I know." His boss replied bluntly, causing Nova to cringe.

"Y-you aren't mad…?" The bald man asked, hoping to get off scot-free for his troubles. Sterling, however, didn't look like the merciful type as he suddenly stood up. Nova felt his heart beating in his thin, bony chest.

"No." Sterling said as he walked slowly towards Nova and leaned over him, one hand on the table, "I'm not mad."

"Oh, that's good!" Nova sighed, smiling, "for a moment there, I thought you actually were!"

"No, no!" Sterling said, smiling as he waved his hand, "What good would being angry be!?"

"I know, right mate?" Nova chortled, joining in the laugh before Sterling suddenly slammed his fist down on the table with the force of a sledgehammer.

"I'M ABSOLUTELY FURIOUS IS WHAT I AM!" He suddenly yelled, almost blasting the smile off Nova's face. Sterling's nostrils flared on his thin nose as his cheeks flushed red and a vein throbbed on the side of his head. Nova squeaked nervously and slouched in his seat as Sterling continued, screaming, "You had one bloody job in taking out a stupid little car and you couldn't even do that!? Why!? Why couldn't you take out one stupid little annoying Volkswagen Beetle and its stupid driver once and for all?!"

"It wasn't my fault!" Nova screamed as he shielded his head from any attacks Sterling might make, tears in his eyes, "It was that car driving onto the tracks, and then this biker chick came along and got on my nerves! I didn't mean it!" As he began bawling, Sterling looked up suddenly. A biker chick? Who did have a motorcycle that he didn't know of already?

"A biker, you say?" Sterling asked quieter as he kneeled at Nova's bawling side, poking the man to get his attention, "What did it look like…?"

"It w-was red…" Nova blubbered inelegantly, sniffling as Sterling rolled his eyes and handed him a tissue, "With a black underside!" Sterling grinned as he heard it, kissing Nova on his bald head.

"You're a genius, Nova!" He cried out, picking up the much older man and hugging him tightly around his slender, "You're a genius! Thank you!"

"Glad to be of s-service, s-sir…" Nova said dizzily, tears still dripping from his eyes as Sterling suddenly dropped him onto the floor and ran out excitedly.

Later on in the evening, Lewis, Haruka, Wilson, and Jackson were all waiting outside Lily's with Forrest and Haruka's sportbike, Shamo. Lewis and Haruka were watching the sun set over the Pacific Ocean as Wilson and Jackson checked their watches. Roddy should have been getting there by now, but he had yet to answer Lewis' text message. The two began to worry before a voice called out to them from the restaurant. Turning around, Jackson found it was the same green-haired waiter from before, still clad a classy black vest and green bowtie.

"Hey, is your party going to eat inside?" He wondered, "My boss doesn't like loiterers around here."

"Oh sure, we'll come in." Wilson nodded, whistling to Haruka and Lewis as the two soon came inside the restaurant, with Wilson adding, "Five, please."

"Will your fifth be arriving soon?" The waiter asked, placing them in a booth facing the road.

"Of course!" Lewis beamed, remembering Roddy's reaction upon seeing the waiter for the first time, "And, well, he actually told me to tell you that he... Has a thing for you."

"Oh?" The waiter smirked, hand on one hip as he said, "Well, tell him that I'm available on weekends, I'm always looking for some good company." The waiter then wrote his number on his notepad and handed it to Lewis, winking to him as the vested male then took their drink orders.

The evening went by in relative conversation, with the waiter hanging around a number of times to share in some of the information being shared. He revealed his name was Cilian Dent, but he often went by the unflattering name "celery-head" on account of his green-dyed hair. Food came and went, but still Roddy didn't show up as the sky darkened and the meal was finished.

"Where could he have gone?" Lewis wondered, looking at Cilian's phone number in his hand, "It's not like him to be angry for this long."

"Maybe try calling him?" Wilson suggested as he paid the check, reaching his arm around Jackson as the afro'd male was busy downing his seventh breakfast burrito.

"I'll try that…" Lewis nodded as he called up Roddy's number, making sure to text him Cilian's number first as they all got up and exited the restaurant.

Back at the apartment, Roddy's phone buzzed high above on his bed, but Roddy himself was not in. Instead, he was at the back, measuring Herbie's tire pressure and checking his fluids and throttle response to see if everything was in tip-top shape. Roddy was not putting anything to chance or Herbie for this one. This would be his last race with Sterling, and he was determined to finish off with a bang so large that Sterling would never dare contact him again. Herbie, meanwhile, continued to feel apprehensive as Roddy toyed with his insides. He certainly didn't like where this was going and was determined himself to stop the driver from wrecking himself. However, Herbie didn't want to incur Roddy's wrath just yet, so he remained quiet as Roddy started his engine up and revved it, sounding as smooth as the little car could make it. Nodding in satisfaction, Roddy turned off Herbie's engine and covered it with a tarp hooked along his rear grille to keep his engine warm. Patting the bug on his roof, Roddy smiled proudly at Herbie as he went upstairs to go to sleep, ignoring the messages on his phone.

The crew didn't see or hear from Roddy all day the next morning as Jackson revved Forrest into the garage forecourt. The Land Rover came to a slightly squeaking stop as Haruka soon revved in on Shamo, coming to a stop beside the big sport utility vehicle as she unsaddled the bike. Her face looked troubled as she looked to Pegasus parked nearby, then to Jackson as he stepped out of his vehicle, dressed in his Park Ranger uniform.

"Hello, Jackson!" Haruka called out to him, waving her hand in the air, "What's with the costume?"

"My vacation's over, Haruka." He replied, making sure his uniform was clean, "I start in a couple of hours up at Angeles, so I gotta tell Wilson that I was heading off."

"Oh, what I got's about Angeles!" She said, showing him the text suddenly. Jackson's eyes bugged out as he identified the words "Sterling", "Volkswagen", and "race". Immediately, the two looked at each other in shock before running into the office to find Lewis and Wilson, who were conversing casually at the counter.

"Haruka!" Lewis beamed, leaning over the counter to kiss her, but was found blocked by a phone to the face as he backed away to read it. Suddenly, his eyes went wide as well as he showed his dad, who displayed a similar reaction as the four suddenly went silent. Lewis was the first to break it as he asked, "Who told you?"

"I don't know." Haruka said, looking through her contacts, "It was a group message so I don't know who sent it first. But it's happening tonight!"

"Why didn't Roddy even tell us?" Jackson asked, pulling at his afro.

"Now, everyone calm down!" Wilson shouted uncharacteristically, just to get control of the situation, "Maybe Roddy didn't tell us because he thought he could do this on his own. What we have to do is find him and talk him out of doing this, understood?"

"Of course, dad!" Lewis nodded back, "Let's go find him!"

"Right!" Jackson and Haruka both said as they ran out to Pegasus and piled inside. As Lewis climbed into Pegasus, he only now noticed Jackson dressed as a park ranger.

"Why're you dressed like that?" Lewis wondered as he headed out onto Colorado Boulevard and headed for Roddy's place.

"It's my uniform, remember?" Jackson said, "I've been on vacation for a couple months, and I return to work tomorrow."

"That actually gives me an idea," Lewis replied, tapping his chin, "Of a way we can get Roddy out of that race. Now, pay close attention…"

When the trio arrived at Roddy's place later in the day, they found Maya Gomez meeting them at the door, but Herbie and Roddy had apparently both left an hour before they arrived. Lewis snapped his fingers in annoyance at just missing the little Asian and his car, but then thought again as he re-entered Pegasus.

"Hey Jackson," Lewis wondered, "Can Forrest pass for a National Park Ranger SUV?"

"Uh, yeah." Jackson said as he climbed in the back, "Kinda, why?"

"Because I just had an idea…" Lewis grinned, and drove quickly back to the garage.


	14. Fight to the Finish

It was nightfall when Herbie eventually reached the mouth of Angeles Crest Highway. The little car was feeling apprehensive about racing that night, but knew Roddy would be too stubborn to listen to reason at this point. There, Roddy found a small group of Sterling's cohorts waiting for him with all their flashy import cars, including the man himself resting on his silver Infiniti coupe. The bug came to a stop a short distance away and parked as Sterling walked over, his cohorts getting out of the way and giving them room. Roddy grimaced as he got out of the bug, dressed in a white jumpsuit and blue racing helmet with Chinese characters written on it in white paint. The little car began to formulate a plan to make his drive see sense, or at least realize what he was doing to his friends.

"Well." Sterling grinned, offering his hand as he walked up to Roddy, "Glad you could make it tonight!

"Can it, Sterling." Roddy growled, pointing a finger in his direction, "I know it was you who sent that bloody monster after me in Soledad Canyon, and you're gonna pay that tonight by eating. My. Dust."

"Oooh!" Sterling grinned as his cohorts grinned and laughed behind him, "I'm pretty sure I have no record of sending someone after you, as I've changed of course!"

"So you say." Roddy grumbled, as a white park ranger's passed by them, going uphill, "So we gonna race or not?"

"Of course we'll race." Sterling grinned as he leaned down above the smaller male, "If you win, you get any kind of car from my father's lot, no matter what the price; and, I leave you alone forever. How's that?"

"And if you win," Roddy growled, "You can get my car, but you still have to leave me alone." Herbie wriggled nervously at the terms, looking at Sterling in fear. The taller male met Herbie's seeming gaze and grinned darkly, turning to Roddy to shake his hand.

"You have yourself a deal there," Sterling grinned as Roddy immediately let go of his hand and climbed back into Herbie, saying slyly, "Don't lose too hard of course, I don't want my new toy to end up damaged."

"Bite me," Roddy growled as he rolled up the window and started up Herbie's engine. The bug then revved off to a start line being spray-painted by Red, as Sterling moved up alongside in his super-modified silver coupe. The two revved their engines, sending flames shooting out of the Infiniti's exhaust pipe, as Herbie wheezed and growled. Roddy and Sterling's eyes met as Red stepped out in front of them with a flag in hand.

"You race to the picnic grounds and back!" He yelled over the din of their engines, raising the flag, "In 3… 2...1!"

As Red brought the flag down, both Herbie's and the Infiniti's tires squealed and smoked as they shot up Angeles Crest highway, both narrowly avoiding running Red over as they launched into a steep left-hand curve. Roddy kept his foot down on the pedal as the two cars sped along the dark road, only illuminated by their car's headlights and Sterling's own neons under his car. Speeding out of the curve, Roddy shifted into a higher gear as Herbie pulled ahead of Sterling, tires digging into the curve as they shot out of the curve and rocketing into the next one. Sterling grinned as he chased after the Beetle, pulling on the handbrake and blocking Herbie's access to the apex. Roddy swore as he downshifted, cutting into the inside of the curve and still rocketing ahead. There Herbie stayed behind Sterling, as his opponent drifted effortlessly into the curves, each turn of the wheel seemingly calculated as the Infiniti drew a considerable lead over the bug. Roddy seethed, hands tight on the wheel as he punched Herbie's gas. THe little car gurgled and grumbled as Roddy swung him into another turn, making his driver grit his teeth.

"Come on, Herbie!" Roddy growled, downshifting again but finding Herbie's gearstick unresponsive. Tugging on it a couple times, he found it jammed in place as Roddy groaned and facepalmed, pulling Herbie's gas in again as the little car merely growled uselessly. Roddy growled, screaming, "You don't want Sterling to win, don't you?! Do you know what he's gonna do to the both of us when we lose!?" No response came from the car as Herbie maintained his pace, leaving Roddy helplessly watching Sterling rocketing ahead of them, flames shooting out of his tailpipe.

"Oh come on…" Roddy groaned as he put his forehead against the wheel, saying, "If this is about me being angry, I'm sorry, ok!? I didn't mean to scare you like this, I was scared too!" Herbie didn't respond as Roddy continued, "I was scared of… My friends getting hurt and of Sterling and… I didn't want to get caught up in this! I just wanted to race!" Tears began to well in Roddy's eye as Herbie continued to listen, Roddy saying, "I just thought… Racing was fun, I didn't want to become this competitive… Or put myself or you in any danger like this." He then took a deep breath, hugging Herbie's wheel and sighing quietly as he said, "I'm sorry…" All of a sudden, Herbie downshifted as his little engine roared to life. His tires squealed as the little car drifted through a narrow series of turns, Roddy being forced back into his seat as Herbie chased after Sterling's car. His driver whooped and cheered as he eagerly shifted into a higher gear, Roddy putting his foot down as they both sped off into the dark mountain road.

Meanwhile, Sterling was up ahead, having slowed down to cruise along the open highway. He had a can of Red Bull in his hand, happily sipping it as one hand remained on the wheel. Techno music was blasting on his expensive stereo system, drowning out all the noise around him as Herbie soon came around the curve, rocketing up the grade as fast as his wheels could carry him. Roddy looked to the slowed Infiniti and grinned, honking Herbie's horn as they sped by and kicked up some dust. Sterling was ripped out of his relaxation as he spat Red Bull all over his car's interior, growling in disgust as he tossed the can out the window and revved his engine hard. Pressing a button, nitrous oxide was soon dumped into his engine's cylinders and out the tailpipe in a blue flame, making the Infiniti accelerate harder as Sterling chased after the small bug.

"You're not gonna get away from me, Gomez!" He growled, shifting higher and packing more boost into his already-roaring engine as the Infiniti streaked around tight right-hand curve. Sterling immediately oversteered the car and pulled on the handbrake, making his rear swing out and taillights streak against the darkness as he drifted one hundred and eighty degrees through two consecutive zig-zag curves. This tricky driving allowed Sterling to catch up with Herbie, as the two began to form an intricate, careful dance as the cars skidded and drifted around each tight curve within inches of each other through George's Gap. Sterling had to credit Roddy on one thing, the amateur sure knew his way around a mountain road. As they passed the Clear Creek Information Center, a big white Land Rover's inhabitants were soon woken up by the loud, revving engines.

"Oh crap!" Jackson screamed as he woke up Lewis, "They just passed!"

"Go go go!" Lewis screamed as he finished putting on Jackson's spare ranger uniform in the backseat. Forrest's diesel engine roared and all four tires squealed as Jackson took off after the racers, his beacon lights flashing bright in the night.

Sterling and Roddy both saw the bright lights approaching them and decided to evade the authorities, throwing both of their cars into a tight right-hand turn as Sterling sped on ahead, Herbie remaining on the car's inside and hugging the mountain. Both cars remained neck and neck as they weaved along the mountainside, as Forrest followed along close behind. A tight complex of curves lay ahead with the first leading into a steep cutting. Sterling dropped behind as Herbie shot forward, Roddy manipulating the wheel and swinging Herbie's rear out to drift. Sterling took advantage of this as he grinned and shifted his Infiniti harder, catching up as the little car was about to exit the curve. With a small, gentle nudge, Herbie suddenly found himself spinning out, trying to grip the road as the cutting suddenly gave way to a steep drop-off. Roddy slammed on the brakes hard as Herbie skidded to a stop, rear bumper just having over the dark edge. Both car and human sighed as Roddy looked to Sterling's lights streaking away into the hills.

"You know what to do, Herbie." Roddy grinned as he saw the Land Rover catching up, its amber lights still blazing through the darkness. Herbie beeped eagerly and dug his tires into the dirt, kicking up a cloud of dust as he sped away after Sterling. Lewis and Jackson, meanwhile, shielded their eyes as Jackson whipped the Land Rover around the turn slowly, still in mock pursuit of the two drivers.

Herbie soon caught up to Sterling as the latter was swinging his car around a soft right hand, then a tight left hand curve. Roddy gripped the wheel as Herbie suddenly jerked right, cutting across the dirt on the inside as Sterling drifted, revving back onto the road and drifting into a tight left curve that climbed steeply. Sterling growled as he came out of that curve, pushing the Infiniti faster as flames again shot out of its tailpipe, singeing the rear bumper and diffuser as the Infiniti followed close behind the Volkswagen again as they hit a straight and then a gentle left. As they went into another right-hand curve, Herbie moved to block Sterling again, but this time the driver wasn't having it as he rammed the Infiniti into Herbie's rear fender. Both Herbie and Roddy cringed as the sound of crunching metal rang in Roddy's ears, the Infiniti's intercooler suffering minor damage as Herbie spun out yet again.

WIthout stopping this time, Herbie tried racing backwards again after Sterling as Roddy hung on tightly to let the car do his thing. When they reached yet another tight left turn with a pull-over section overlooking a vista, Herbie immediately sped ahead of Sterling on the outside and swung his front around. Taking the hint, Roddy then steered Herbie back facing forward as he shifted into second gear, throwing the car hard forward as Herbie roared ahead of Sterling. After two corners, the picnic area was just up ahead. Sterling and Roddy looked at each other as both went head to head on the straightaway. When they reached the entrance to the picnic grounds, both drivers went for the handbrake as their cars swung around 180 degrees. As they did, though, they suddenly found the Rangers had caught up with them.

Forrest soon rolled up to the stopped racecars, its white paintwork completely unblemished and cleaned up as two large California State Park logos adorned her doors. Her amber lights and fog-lights shone brightly, almost blinding the two drivers as its diesel engine purred smoothly. With a squeaking stop, Lewis and Jackson stepped out in disguise, lights shining on Roddy and Sterling as they walked up to the two drivers. Barely discernable through the light, Jackson was dressed as a park ranger, clad in aviator sunglasses, a false earpiece and a ranger hat covering his rather prominent afro. Lewis, meanwhile, was dressed in the same uniform and aviator sunglasses, but was instead wearing a false, and obscenely bushy, moustache. Sterling was left wondering what was going on as he exited his car to talk with the officers, as Roddy was just left speechless, wondering what his friends were doing here.

"Can I help you, officers?" Sterling said, extending his hand for a shake.

"O'course you cayn." Jackson said in a broad redneck accent that Roddy couldn't help but laugh at inside Herbie, "Mind y'all explainin' the sitch-ee-ation here, sir?"

"Well," Sterling started, not noticing Jackson's fake accent, "I was just out here with my friend tonight, enjoying a leisurely drive along this beautiful mountain road."

"At a hundred or so miles an hour?" Lewis responded in a deep voice that was probably the moustache's fault.

"Oh, that?" Sterling grinned, trying not to break character, "That was because wanted to get to our destination on time. It's a little cafe on the other side of the mountain, nice cappuccinos and all."

"Uh-huh…" Lewis nodded skeptically, "I'll have to question the other driver about this. You stay here in case my partner wants to question you more.." As Sterling nodded compliantly and stayed by Jackson's side, Lewis approached Herbie and knocked on the window. Roddy quickly cranked the window down and sheepishly waved to Lewis, looking quite sorry for himself.

"H-hi, officer…" Roddy said quietly, feeling the weight of his actions yesterday suddenly coming back to him.

"You ok?" Lewis asked in his normal voice, taking the sunglasses off to show his caring, compassionate eyes.

"Yeah…" Roddy exhaled as he looked down, "I'm fine." He then looked at Lewis again, saying, "Look, about yesterday…"

"Don't worry about it." Lewis smiled, hoping Sterling didn't see, "We're all still your friends, you know? We just want you to be safe, you know?"

"Thanks, Lewis." Roddy beamed, fistbumping his friend as Lewis suddenly slipped a piece of paper into Roddy's hand. Finding that it was a number, Roddy blinked and asked him, "What is this?"

"Seems that waiter at Lily's seemed to like you." Lewis winked as he backed up and watched Roddy's eyes light up, "You'd best call him after you win."

"I will!" Roddy cried happily, fighting a happy tear in his eye as he said, "Thanks officer!"

"You're free to go, drive safely sir!" Lewis waved, adopting his deeper voice as Herbie beeped and rolled forward downhill, past an astonished Sterling.

"You're just going to let him go, officer?!" he said, pointing at the rapidly-accelerating bug as Herbie's engine suddenly roared across the mountain range.

"Of course!" Jackson replied, still disguised, "Under law, we still gotta hold you for thirty seconds!"

"What law?" Sterling angrily said, "I'm a taxpayer, you know! I have my rights too!"

"The law…" Lewis said, suddenly removing his moustache and glasses as Jackson took his hat off and let his afro pop out, "Of you losing!"

Sterling was left standing there for a few seconds in shock, suddenly seeing Roddy's insipid friends right in front of him. The little Asian had tricked him for the last time! Now only seeing red, Sterling then quickly jumped into his Infiniti and revved its engine hard. His right foot collided hard with the gas pedal as flames shot out of the silver car, nearly running Jackson over as Sterling revved madly after Roddy. Watching the car disappear, Jackson and Lewis quickly chased after in Forrest as they cheered on Roddy. Up ahead, Herbie was carving each downhill curve with surprising agility, Roddy braking and swinging out the Beetle's rear as they revved downhill faster and faster, tail-lights streaking through every bend and chicane with only Herbie's headlights as a source of illumination. Fast approaching the Clear Creek Information Center, a loud revving from behind them caused Roddy to look in Herbie's rearview. Coming up behind Herbie, like a bat out of hell, was Sterling at a breakneck speed, and he didn't look one bit happy about it.


	15. The Real Winner

Sterling gritted his teeth as he pushed the Infiniti harder down the mountain, his engine's tachometer constantly pointing into the red line as more nitrous oxide was dumped into his engine. Blue flames pushed the silver coupe onward as the mad rival streaked past Herbie when he went by the Information Center. Roddy had to brace tightly on Herbie's seat, feeling the whole car tipping sideways as Sterling dipped into the next turn. Quickly regaining control, Herbie obediently pushed forward after the Infiniti, drifting into the corner and catching up quite easily as Roddy's hands fought to keep Herbie on the road.

No matter what Sterling could do, he couldn't shake the little car off his tail. Weaving in and out through the curves, the desperate male tried his damndest to lose Herbie on the dark mountain roads but to no avail. Through each corner and straightaway, the little car kept up well as they plunged downhill into George's Gap, Roddy keeping his eyes focused on the road as Sterling gave one glance at the bug as they went into a tight S-curve with a vista overlooking the mountain range.. As they turned into it, Sterling let his Infiniti swing out again, slamming its rear into Herbie's rear fender again. The bug groaned as his tires began to slide, Roddy fighting to keep Herbie under control.

"Yes, yes!" Sterling grinned, spying a guardrail up ahead that ended the vista outlook and rejoined the road. Pushing Herbie towards the railing, sparks flew from between the two cars as Sterling strong-armed the wheel of his car and forced Herbie. The little car shuddered and beeped desperately as Roddy looked quickly from the upcoming railing to the wall. Sterling then began laughing as he rammed Herbie off the road and towards the railing as he shot off down the road, not even caring that the entire side of his car was scratched and dented. Letting off the gas, he then listened carefully to hear the beautiful sounds of Roddy crashing into the railing….

Instead, a harsh grinding noise greeted Sterling as Herbie suddenly slid by on the railing, sparks flying as the bug jumped off the railing and skidded in front of the Infiniti. Roddy then regained control as Herbie straightened off, accelerating into a right hand curve as he waved mockingly through the rear windshield. Sterling was left slack-jawed as he watched the Beetle speed off, feeling his knuckles whiten and his face pale. How could that car do those kinds of things, and at the hand of a mere amateur like him?! The Infiniti's driver regained composure and dumped more nitrous into his engine, blue flames burning bright in the darkness as the Infiniti fought to catch up.

"Oh, so we're going to play like that, eh Gomez?!" Sterling screamed as he downshifted, swinging the Infiniti down another steep curve, "I'll bomb you off the damn road!"

Roddy kept looking behind himself, seeing Sterling coming up too fast for his own taste. Chest pounding, he stepped off the gas and braked hard, sending Herbie into another powerslide and leading Sterling along. He didn't know how long the car was going to keep behind him, but Roddy knew that he couldn't trust being within inches of that silver sports car as they went into another tight right-hand turn. Sterling immediately dived inside, using the Infiniti as a battering ram as he smashed into Herbie's side roughly. Roddy braced and groaned as Herbie's tires bit the asphalt and began smoking, the little car's side just in front of his rear right fender dented in from Sterling's hit. Sterling lost his left headlight because of the hit, but that didn't matter to him right now as he drew level. The two cars weaved perfectly through each turn ahead as tires squealed in protest and smoke billowed out from behind them.

"This Gomez rat just won't quit!" Sterling thought to himself as he looked at Roddy as they drifted around another curve, "I've the better car, the better mods, and the better performance! What's he got that makes him so good!?"

Roddy just chewed on his cheek as he led Herbie down the many curves that made up Angeles Crest Highway, focused only on making sure his little car didn't end up ploughing down the mountainside. It was only a short time before they would return to the start point, so Herbie decided to put some distance ahead of Sterling. Drifting into a turn, Roddy stepped on the gas and over-revved Herbie's tires, keeping the bug on a controlled drift as white smoke obscured Sterling's vision. The rival driver growled and angrily ripped at his gearstick, bringing the Infiniti out of the smoke-cloud, only to almost skid into a mountainside. The Infiniti skidded as Sterling fought for control, the silver sports car going sideways down the road as Roddy sped off ahead. Its driver growled as his steel-blue eyes watched Herbie speed away, putting the Infiniti into gear again as Sterling roared down the mountain once again. He wasn't going to lose, he never lost to begin with! To Sterling, was always a winner and he was going to claim that victory, and Roddy's car, for himself.

Back down the mountain, Haruka revved up on Shamo to Sterling's cohorts, pulling up beside a blue Datsun sports coupe. Parking her bike next to the car, the nervous girl took off her helmet and walked towards the road quietly as some of the drift racers looked back to notice her. Murmuring amongst themselves, Red pushed through the crowd suddenly as he ran up to Haruka, almost tripping over on his baggy jeans. The blonde male picked himself up and adjusted his cap, then looked to the girl as her gaze was directed up the mountain road. After a quiet beat, Red looked at her and gently tapped Haruka on the hip, shocking the girl out of her silence.

"Ah!" She squealed, looking angrily at him as she said, "Red, what gives?"

"I wanted to get your attention, 'Ruka." He replied, scratching the back of his head. After spitting, he said, "What're you doing here 'Ruka? Sterling told us if he saw you here, he'd kill ya!"

"I came here to to watch the race." She replied smartly, not looking to Red, "I'm just making sure my friends are safe."

"What friends?" Red wondered, frowning in confusion, "I thought we were your friends!"

"You were…" Haruka nodded softly, "But I found some new ones."

"You really can't think that little bug can win, can you?" Red laughed, trying to alleviate the tension, "I mean, your boy Sterling-"

"He's not. My. Boyfriend." Haruka said firmly, giving Red a fierce look, "We're finished, through."

"Sure, sure!" Red nodded, cowering from Haruka as he backed away, "Fine, whatever! Your life, you know!" As the skinny male scurried away to rejoin the main group, Haruka breathed gently as the mountain air blew through her hair.

"Come on, Roddy…" She softly said to herself, loosening her fist.

Back up the mountain, Herbie and the Infiniti were head to head again. Sterling and Roddy gave each other a fierce look as their cars dived into the final turns, tires screaming out in protest with every sideways motion they forced on them. Both their legs were a blur as clutch and gas pedals were repeatedly stomped on to maintain speed. Flames were even popping out of Herbie's rear end as the bug rapidly shifted to keep up. Sterling could almost taste victory now, licking his lips as his right foot stomped down on the gas pedal as far as it could go. The tachometer needle rose higher past 5000 revolutions per minute, 6000, then past the redline at 6600 revolutions and still climbing. The six-cylinder engine screamed as the damaged front of the silver coupe drew level with Herbie's bumper, sounding as if it could give no more power. Two turns to go and Herbie was still keeping pace with Sterling. To the driver, desperate times began to call for desperate measures.

As the two cars roared into the final big turn, Sterling flicked the nitrous switch one last time. Herbie had to brake slightly mid-turn as the Infiniti's exhaust lit up with blue flames, roaring like a lion as the silver coupe drew ahead out of the turn quickly. As his rival drew ahead into the final turn, the Infiniti's engine let out a horrible whining noise that caused Roddy to cover his ears. Herbie also reeled back from sound, braking gently as white smoke shot out of their rival's tailpipe. Sterling, meanwhile, ignored everything around him as he felt the car push him closer and closer to the finish. In fact, there it was! Right in front of him! Grinning, Sterling decided to put on a little show and pushed in the clutch, revving the engine as the last of the nitrous was leaving the system. However, it proved to be fatal. Immediately, there was a loud "BANG!" as a flash of fire and black smoke popped out from under the bonnet. The coupe's wheels immediately locked up as Sterling went into an uncontrollable skid, spinning out at high speed downhill. The driver screamed in fear as he fought to keep control, more white smoke erupting from his tailpipe and his tires as the Infiniti spun out of control and towards the waiting party. Instead of cheering, however, Sterling's cohorts ran out of the way, narrowly avoiding getting hit as their boss' car skidded past across the finish and past Haruka rapidly. Haruka didn't move an inch as the car passed her by, only watching Roddy finishing his descent down the mountain.

The Infiniti managed to finally stop ten feet away a few seconds later on the side of the road, facing forward again as Herbie finally crossed the line and stopped quickly just beside Haruka. The little bug puttered happily at her side as Sterling remained still in his car for a moment, catching his breath and taking a glance at his surroundings. The Infiniti was billowing black smoke from its bonnet, causing the cabin's temperature to rise as its electronics fizzled out. Sterling undid his belt slowly and opened the door, staggering out to face Roddy, Haruka, and all of his cohorts looking at him, worried. The shaken male then began shambling slowly towards them, dizzily walking up the road back to them as he held out a shaky finger and pointed at Roddy, an unhinged grin upon his face as Sterling's glasses were askew on his face.

"I…" Sterling stammered, still walking up to them with his index finger out, "I win… Your car's m-mine."

"Are you going to be ok?" Roddy asked, walking over to Sterling before reeling back as his rival suddenly slammed his hands on Herbie's hood.

"He's mine, GOMEZ!" Sterling squeaked, giggling as one eye twitched. Looking to Haruka, he slowly reached out another shaky hand and said, "Haruka, d-darling…"

"Ew…" Haruka retched as she gently deflected Sterling's hand. Sterling frowned, looking to his quiet and scared racers with a manic look on his face.

"What's the matter!?" Sterling yelled, ignoring what was going on behind him as he approached them, "What's got you all quiet as sh-?!"

"Look behind you!" One racer shouted, and then Sterling did.

Sterling could only stare blankly as his Infiniti was suddenly engulfed in flames, from the engine compartment all the way through to the rear. The plush leather interior caught fire immediately and, as the fire crept around the still-filled nitrous tank and gas tank, the Infiniti exploded violently. A shockwave rang through the mountain road as Haruka and Roddy immediately took refuge behind Herbie, Sterling standing almost stupidly still as he watched his car transform into a bright explosion that illuminated the night sky in brilliant reds, oranges, yellows and whites. Streetlights were shattered, car alarms were activated, and almost the entire neighborhood of La Canada-Flintridge was woken up as the Infiniti was soon reduced to a flaming skeleton. Roddy and Haruka got up slowly as Lewis and Jackson soon rejoined down the mountain, skidding to a stop behind Herbie.

"What happened?!" Lewis asked, sticking his head out the window.

"It looks like Sterling's car exp-" Haruka began to explain, but then laughed when she saw Lewis still wearing the fake moustache. Her boyfriend blushed and blinked as he hid his face quickly, as Jackson stepped out to examine the wreck.

"Damn…" he commented as he tipped his ranger hat up, "What a hot ride, eh? Eh?" Jackson then nudged Roddy, expecting a laugh. Roddy looked to him with an unimpressed face, as Herbie began emitting a laugh-like beeping of his horn. Jackson then grinned at Roddy, rubbing his knuckles on his lapel as he said, "Well, at least someone liked it."

A chorus of sirens and horns were soon coming up the block, indicating the authorities were on their way to see what all the commotion was about. Sterling's cohorts, fearing impoundment or worse, immediately fled their leader and booked it up the mountain, their exhausts buzzing away into the night. Roddy and his friends, however, stood right where they were as Roddy stripped his racing clothes off to draw no further suspicion. Sterling, meanwhile, continued standing a few feet away, staring blankly at his now-vanquished Infiniti without a thought running through his head. The fire department soon arrived and were busy dousing the flaming wreckage, as one police officer drove over to the group to ask them questions.

"Evening, rangers." He said, not suspecting Lewis and Jackson's disguises. Stepping out of the cruiser, the near-balding, chubby officer then turned to Roddy and Haruka as he said, "Ma'am, sir."

"Evening, officer." Jackson said, shaking his hand, "What can we do for you tonight.

"You two…" The officer said, pointing his pen to Haruka and Roddy, "Were you two racing tonight, by any chance?"

"What? No!" Haruka and Roddy stammered together, before clearing their throats as Haruka continued, "I was just taking a relaxing night drive with my friends here, and then this… Racer boy." She then pointed to the blank Sterling, continuing, "He came up, harassing us and trying to race us, but then his car… Yeah." She then finished with a smile, as the officer took down his notes.

"Mmhmm…" The officer replied, "And were you two rangers escorting them through?"

"Uh, yes. Yes we were." Jackson nodded, flashing the officer his ranger's badge.

"Ok," The officer said, nodding as he looked over his notes. "Since your report's ok, I'll get this one out of your hair." Walking over to Sterling's still body, the officer put his wrists into cuffs and escorted the quiet racer off the street, listing his crimes along the way as the officer said, "You're under arrest under suspicion of reckless endangerment, illegal detonation of explosives, speeding, and illegal dumping of said explosives. How do you plead?"

"Huh…?" Sterling grunted as he was put into the back of the police cruiser. Sirens blared once again as the cruiser sped off, leaving Roddy and his friends alone on the quiet mountain road. As the firefighters collected the wreckage of Sterling's car, Roddy looked around at his friends and their rides, before asking: "Wait, what happens now?" The others looked at him awkwardly as they searched for an answer themselves. After a couple minutes of silence, Jackson piped up.

"How about burritos at Lily's?" He suggested. Everyone but Roddy groaned, which Jackson took to be a yes.


	16. A First Time for Everything

Roddy woke up the very next morning at 10AM with a dull, throbbing ache in his head. His legs also felt like he had strapped them to concrete blocks, wincing as he slid himself to the side and sat up. Minding the low head-room of his bunkbed, Roddy yawned as he grabbed his glasses and looked at himself in the mirror. An exhausted twenty-three year old greeted his gaze, as his unkempt mop-top stuck out everywhere, resembling a dollop of dark fudge atop his head. Tugging at his undershirt, Roddy then stood up and stretched his arms upward, yawning again as he approached the window across the room. As he opened the curtains and gazed out at the sunny morning outside, his eyes winced from the brightness before they drifted down to Herbie resting on front of the restaurant. When his vision finally cleared, Roddy's eyes promptly grew wider in surprise.

Herbie displayed dents and scratches all along his side, with much of the impact damage contained on part of his rear bumper, his rear fender and the body panel just in front of it. Immediately, the memories of last night came flooding back to Roddy: accepting Sterling's deal, racing on Angeles Crest, Lewis' ridiculous fake moustache, and finally Sterling's car exploding as he was arrested. Roddy didn't know what to make of the memories, the last thing he saw being Cilian's gently-smiling face before the rest was a blacked-out blur. His mother was busy managing the restaurant below when she saw Roddy come down the stairs quickly, calling him over as the young man was busy fixing the buttons on his polo shirt.

"Morning, Rodrigo!" She said, giving him a tight hug and a kiss.

"Augh, mom!" Roddy hissed, wiggling her grip, "Not in front of the customers!"

"Oh shush, they don't mind." His mom gently teased before asking, "Why do you look so tired? Were you hanging out with your friends again?"

"Uh, yeah." Roddy nodded, "We drove along Angeles Crest at night just for fun." He then bit his lip, knowing that it was only a half-truth anyway.

"And you were careful, right?" Maya then pressed him, apparently having not noticed Herbie's damage.

"Of course, mom." Roddy nodded, hugging her tightly again. Maya accepted his answer with open arms, giving him a hug back. Roddy then said as he let go, "I'm going to go hang out with my friends now, but I promise I'll be back to make some deliveries!"

"Ok, you have fun!" Maya called out, "And be careful!"

"I won't!" Roddy playfully responded, grabbing his jacket as he flew out the door and climbed into Herbie. Putting on his seatbelt, Roddy asked the little car, "Morning, Herbie. How are you feeling today?" A gentle bleat of his horn answered Roddy, which he took as a sign that Herbie was ok. Cranking the key in its slot, Herbie's engine turned over once, then twice before finally firing up smoothly, making Roddy smile. Taking Herbie out on the road, the two drove over to the Mission St. garage quickly and found Lewis and Haruka talking by Pegasus as they pulled in. Wilson, meanwhile, was busy bolting in a sporty white Mitsubishi four-door's new wheels when he saw Herbie pulling in. Finishing his work, Wilson wiped his hands as he ambled over, all smiles before suddenly noticing the little car's damaged side.

"What happened!?" He said in surprise, which broke Lewis and Haruka out of their

conversation.

"Oh, dad!" Lewis said excitedly as he ran up, pulling Haruka along, "Roddy raced Sterling last night on Angeles Crest!"

"You what!?" Wilson said, even more surprised as he looked to Roddy stepping out of Herbie, asking him frantically, "Did you win?!"

"Well," Haruka interjected, "Since Sterling's car blew up on the finish, it'd be safe to say Roddy won that one."

"Blew up?" Wilson asked again, scratching his head, "How did-?"

"Too much nitrous," Lewis nodded, "Locked his engine right up, then blew up his gas and nitrous tank. Was a brilliant explosion."

"Damn…" Wilson nodded sagely, thinking again, "And what about Sterling? I heard from Morrison that he's looking for a new manager for his Beverly Hills showroom since his son was… indisposed?"

"Oh, he got arrested as well." Haruka explained, trying not to smile in satisfaction as she said, "Police got him for blowing up his car."

"So we're all cool then, right?" Wilson nodded as he looked again to Herbie's exterior damage, "Because if this car's able to make something like that blow up, then we've really got a winner right here."

"Yup." Roddy nodded, then remembered something as he said, "Hey Wilson?"

"Yeah?" Wilson responded, running his hand up and down Herbie's damaged fender. The little car wiggled ticklishly as the mechanic did so, jerking forward slightly and causing Roddy and Lewis to jump back.

"W-what was that about helping me restore my ride for free?" Roddy said, grinning innocently. Wilson whistled as he got up and looked around at the busy garage.

"Come back tonight, after hours." He said, "We'll fix him up right.

The next few nights were spent hard at work on fixing Herbie up, the little car watching quietly as his whole body was lifted off his flat, pan-like chassis, and the defective panes were removed. A new fender and panel was soon bought from Wilde's junkyard off a similar Beetle and were quickly sanded and repainted into matching colors. After a few days, the new panels were installed and Herbie was put back together and repainted in a new coat of pearl white. The fit felt awkward at first to Herbie, like trying on a new shirt that didn't fit just right, but soon the bug felt happy again as he revved happily around the garage, looking as he did coming out of the factory back in the 1960's. Wilson and Roddy fistbumped as Herbie approached them and nuzzled both their legs with his bumpers warmly, everyone feeling proud of their work as Lewis, Haruka, and Jackson conversed on Forrest's tailgate.

Two nights later, Lewis and Haruka finally decided to make the next crucial step in their relationship: going out on a date. Lewis stressed as he fumbled with his Oxford shirt and black tie, slicking back his hair with some pomade as he kept glancing at his lean, angular, and clean-shaved features in the mirror. He had planned on a romantic night in Santa Monica, just Haruka and him cruising around and enjoying what the night had to offer. As he grabbed his blazer, a chirpy "Beep-beep!" suddenly came outside his front door. Raising an eyebrow, Lewis approached the window to find Herbie sitting outside on his driveway behind Pegasus, his lights on and engine idling, yet no driver in his seat. Rolling his eyes, Lewis walked outside and looked at his watch before approaching Herbie with his arms folded.

"So," Lewis said, tongue firmly against his cheek as he remained unimpressed, "Roddy put you up to this, did he?" He then looked Herbie up and down, admiring the immaculate polishing that he and Roddy did earlier that day.

"Yes he did!" Came the prompt reply as Forrest drove up the road, Jackson waving to Lewis as Roddy shouted, "Good luck on your date tonight!" The pair then drove out of sight, causing Lewis to chuckle and shake his head.

"Ah well," He grinned, walking around to Herbie's driver's seat and opening his door, "Might as well not pass up this opportunity. Let's just hope Haruka doesn't mind." Herbie beeped in agreement as he backed up and drove onto the street, Lewis helpfully navigating the bug to Haruka's place.

Haruka, meanwhile, stood outside her father's large gated home in San Marino as she waited for Lewis' arrival. She was leaning on Shamo, dressed in a fiery red dress with a black phoenix design embroidered on, as her brown hair was pinned back into a ponytail. Glancing at her watch again, she worried Lewis would be late until a little horn soon got her attention. The gate opened as Lewis drove up in Herbie, surprising the young woman as she walked over to the little car, her heels clacking on the drive way's brick surface.

"We're not going to a drag strip tonight, are we?" Haruka grinned as Herbie opened his door politely, letting her into the passenger seat.

"I don't know what Roddy said to this little car," Lewis said defensively, causing Haruka to giggle lightly, "But I assure you we won't be racing tonight." Leaning in towards her gently, Lewis then said as he smiled at her warmly, "Tonight, it's just going to be us."

"I should expect so." Haruka replied, pulling Lewis into a soft kiss. Herbie then let out a rendition of the Wedding March on his horn, startling the two from their kiss as Haruka let out a sudden laugh, Lewis blushing intensely as he put the car into gear.

"Spoilers, Herbie!" He said as he drove away from Haruka's place. As they drove onto the main road and headed for the freeway, Haruka closed her eyes and leaned on Lewis' shoulder as he drove. Lewis couldn't help but watch her as he drove, feeling his heart flutter as Herbie came to a stop at a light just before the on-ramp The two felt at peace with each other, with Lewis giving her a kiss on the head as they were stopped, enjoying the intimate silence.

A silence that was suddenly broken by a white Subaru Impreza sedan pulling up next to them at the light. Its engine revved loudly as the pompadour-topped male looked at them through his aviators. A rather curvaceous woman sat next to him in the car, dressed in a creamy-yellow top that dipped low on her chest, while the male wore a leather jacket on his torso, and a grin on his face. Haruka and Lewis looked over skeptically as the pompadoured male pointed at them.

"Yo!" He shouted as Haruka lowered her window, "Want a good race tonight?" Haruka looked over at Lewis incredulously as her boyfriend tapped his straightedge chin.

"I thought you said no racing tonight." She argued, to which Lewis grinned sheepishly back.

"Just this once?" He asked, putting on the puppy dog eyes for her. Haruka sighed, realizing she was no match for Lewis' dorky face.

"Oh fine." She smiled, slapping Lewis gently on his cheek as she turned to the Impreza driver and shouted, "Eat our tiresmoke, _baka_!"

"Them's most certainly fighting words!" The Impreza driver yelled back, as the two cars revved their engines.

As the light went green, Lewis stepped on the gas immediately and let off the clutch. Both he and Haruka then let off a scream as Herbie suddenly jerked forward and popped a wheelie, engine roaring as the little car revved ahead on two wheels. Herbie swiftly past the Impreza onto the on-ramp, shocking the glasses off the young man in the leather jacket and his girlfriend as the Bug merged onto the freeway, his occupants whooping and hollering as Herbie merged into the carpool lane and tucked in for the journey. Much like his two love-birds felt riding inside him, the Love Bug felt happy as well, and nothing could change that now. The Love Bug had found his home.

The End

(o\\(53)/o)


End file.
